The Riveras Summer Special - As Children Grow
by J-R Virtual Seasons
Summary: June 2022: A special episode of The Riveras focusing on the younger generation at a point in their lives when changes are afoot.
1. Chapter 1

Carl and Beth came giggling and frolicking down the stairs in the middle of the afternoon and made their way into the kitchen. Beth started making coffee, and she looked at the clock on the oven at the same time.

'Oh good Lord – Jamie'll be back any minute!' she said.

'I guess we need to work on our timing,' Carl grinned.

Beth smiled at him. 'Really? You think we'll be overtaken by that impulse often?'

'I don't see why not, since we're both going to be around the house most of the day.'

'Well, maybe... but come September, is Jamie even going to be here at _night_? We still don't know where he's planning on living, do we?'

'I guess if he keeps living _here_, he'll be around most of the day anyway,' said Carl. 'Maybe he'll stay. It's not too bad of a commute to Queens when he _does _have to go, is it?'

'No,' said Beth, 'but nor is it so easy that it'd be pointless moving there.'

'If he does, I guess he could still come bursting in at any time with his dirty laundry over his back.'

'Now you're not being fair. Kevin always did his own laundry when he was a student... and before that, even. Eduardo did his own as well.'

'He did, huh?' said Carl. 'I can barely remember that – it seems like a lifetime ago.'

'It's even _more_ than a lifetime for some people,' said Beth, smiling as the front door was heard to open, followed by the sounds made by three energetic teenagers in search of refreshment.

'Hi, Mom, hi, Dad,' said James, as he wandered into the kitchen and made his way to the fridge, followed by two girls. 'So, what do you ladies want? Go-Gurt? Fruit cup? Sunny D? A little of all three?'

The two girls dumped their school satchels on the breakfast bar.

'Don't you have anything more substantial?' asked one, going to look in the fridge with James, while the other girl went over to Carl and Beth.

'Hi, guys,' she said, embracing Beth and smiling at Carl, then waving a leaflet at them. 'This is some stuff about accommodation at St John's College they gave us – I thought maybe you'd like to look at it. We can live right on campus! Affordably, too, if we go for quad rooms... well, if _I _do.'

'I can't imagine this house without any kids in it,' Beth sighed, taking the leaflet. 'Thank you, Chita. It's not your responsibility to give these to us, you know.'

'I know,' Conchita said cheerfully, 'but Jim would've probably forgotten.'

'Quad room, huh?' said Carl, looking suspiciously at the leaflet over Beth's shoulder. 'I assume those are single-sex?'

'Of course,' said Conchita. Then she grinned impishly and added, 'Not that it makes a difference if you're worried about your boy's honour, huh?'

'I was actually thinking about _you_,' said Carl. Then he looked over to where James and his friend had begun chasing each other around with Go-Gurt, and said, 'Anyway, James is into Isabel, right?'

'I think so,' said Conchita.

Carl beamed and said loudly, 'It's nice to see you again, Isabel. I'm so happy you three are all going off to college together. I guess you'll want to get in on Conchita's quad room, won't you?'

'Well,' said Isabel, 'I'll probably have a single.'

'Good idea!' said Carl. 'Then you can have plenty of privacy for... whatever you want to do,' and he grinned at James. 'Maybe you'd like a single too, Jamie. Fewer distractions – keep you on track.'

'Don't worry, Dad, I'll stay on track,' said James, 'just so long as you repay me by remembering to feed Ralph and Felix. Talking of which, that needs doing. Do you ladies want to help me?'

'Okay,' simpered Isabel, while Conchita smiled knowingly and shook her head, so James and Isabel went charging into the hallway and up the stairs without her.

'Good girl,' said Carl, giving Conchita's shoulder an affectionate squeeze. 'I think she'll be good for him.'

Conchita raised an eyebrow. 'Better than Harry, you mean?'

'Not specifically,' said Carl. 'Harry was nice too. I never had a problem with Harry.'

'Well, good,' said Conchita. 'But, um... Uncle Carl, you know Isabel pretty well by now, right?'

'Of course,' said Carl. 'You two've been friends with her for years, haven't you?'

'Yeah,' said Conchita, exchanging a look with Beth. 'Longer than you might think, actually.'

'All right, enough about Isabel,' Beth said hastily. 'It's great that you're so excited about college, Chita. Are you going to use your psych degree to be a cop like James?'

'She's not cut out to be a cop,' Carl said at once.

Conchita laughed affectionately at him. 'Oh no?'

'You're too nice,' said Carl. 'Too gentle. You'd never have the heart to arrest somebody, never mind get the evidence you need to convict them. If you're going to have anything to do with criminals, it'll be to give them a cuddle and make it all better.'

'Well,' said Conchita, smiling, 'don't you think maybe that's a _good_ thing?'

'It'd be nice if you and Jamie _did _end up working together,' said Beth. 'You'd make a good trauma counsellor, honey.'

'Maybe,' said Conchita, 'but maybe not in the same place Jim's being a cop, if we're sick of each other by then. Mind you, we'd probably have to finally part ways when he moves on to his master's degree – they don't do those in counselling and stuff at St John's.'

'He's doing a master's too?' said Carl. 'Jeez, maybe there really _isn't_ enough in the kitty for him to have a single room all that time. What does he need a master's for anyway?'

'It's in criminology and justice,' said Conchita. 'You remember, Uncle Carl – you thought it was a great idea when he told you.'

'So I did!' said Carl, puffing out his chest. 'That's exactly what a cop needs these days. It'll do Jamie good to have something over all the other kids with normal, boring old psych degrees.'

'He and Isabel are a long time feeding those mice,' Beth remarked. 'I hope they're not getting up to _too_ much up there.'

'Why?' said Carl. 'She's legal.'

'So's James,' said Conchita.

'Oh yeah,' said Carl. 'When I started on the force it only mattered for the girl, but... yeah.'

Just then came the sound of loud feet and voices descending the stairs. Carl beamed at this, and went charging out into the hallway, leaving Beth and Conchita exchanging an uncertain look.

'Mice okay?' he asked, clapping James heartily on the back as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

'Yes, for now,' said James. 'Be careful not to crush them, Dad – they're _on_ me.'

'Oh,' said Carl, hastily withdrawing his massive hand.

'I don't know how you can stand it!' said Isabel, who was hanging back a little way up the stairs.

'Because I love them,' James grinned up at her, 'and because they tickle. I'll come back and entertain you in a minute while Chita plays with them, Iz.'

Carl watched his son make his way to the kitchen, with two bulges appearing in various parts of his clothing at intervals. Carl then looked at Isabel and said, 'Chita playing with the mice, huh? I thought girls didn't _like_ mice.'

'You know Chita loves animals,' said Isabel. 'Haven't you ever seen her with James's mice? She's always liked them, ever since his first pair.'

'I guess I must've missed that,' said Carl. 'He got his first pair in elementary school, you know.'

'Yeah,' said Isabel, 'I know.'

Carl smiled approvingly. 'So you two have exchanged life stories, huh?'

'Well, I, er...' Isabel began to look uncomfortable. 'We know each other pretty well, yeah.'

Carl's smile widened. 'I think that's great.'

'You... you do?'

'Absolutely.'

'You, um... _you_ don't know me very well, though, do you?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said Carl. 'I know you better than I used to know Kevin's friends. I was a lot quicker to learn your name, for one thing.'

'Wow,' said Isabel, looking rather at a loss.

For the first time in the conversation, Carl picked up on something.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

'I just realised something,' said Isabel.

'Oh?'

'Yeah. I just realised I, er... I'm not really that afraid of mice after all. Excuse me, please.'

Carl stepped aside as Isabel finished descending the stairs and made her way back to her friends.

* * *

Some hours after all this, a weary-looking Kevin emerged from an elevator and started walking along a deserted hospital corridor. As he approached a glass-fronted door labelled _Pharmacology Department_, Lucy came out into the corridor and locked the door behind her.

'Hi, Luce,' said Kevin.

'Oh, Kev!' Lucy exclaimed, looking up and beaming at him. 'I'm so glad to see you; I hoped you'd come and find me before I had to leave.'

'Yeah, I read your text message ages ago,' said Kevin, 'but then I had to go out to an entrapment and that's where I've been for the past four hours.'

'Everything okay?' Lucy asked.

'Yeah, we got through it in the end,' Kevin said with a small smile. 'So, what's this thing you're dying to tell me?'

'Can't you guess?' said Lucy, grinning from ear to ear.

'I _could_ guess,' said Kevin, 'but then I'd be really disappointed if I was wrong, so...'

'I took a pregnancy test this morning and it came up positive,' said Lucy. 'I'm pregnant with your baby, Kev.'

Kevin remained expressionless for a few seconds as he digested this news, then he beamed all over his face and gathered Lucy into a crushing hug.

'Hey, be careful with me,' Lucy giggled. 'I'm in a delicate condition, you know.'

'This is the best news I've ever been given, Luce,' said Kevin. 'You have no idea how much I love you right now.'

'Oh, I think I have some,' Lucy laughed.

'Let's do an ultrasound!' said Kevin, releasing Lucy but keeping his hands on her shoulders.

'You mean immediately?' said Lucy.

'Yes!' said Kevin. 'Let's do an ultrasound right _now_!'

'Can we do that?' Lucy asked uncertainly.

'Sure we can!' said Kevin. 'We just need to fetch a machine and find a free cubicle, which shouldn't be too difficult at this time of night.'

'Okay,' said Lucy, 'let's do it!'

* * *

'Thanks for walking me home, Beth,' said Conchita, as she fished a key out of her pocket and let them both into her home. 'You didn't have to – it's not even dark. I'd have been all right.'

'I'm sure you would've,' said Beth. 'I just wanted to see the family and catch up, really.'

They walked through to the kitchen where they found Eduardo, Kylie and their younger daughter Rose, who was sitting at the table being plied with sweet tea by her father and squeezed and patted by her mother.

'Oh, Rosy, what's wrong?' cried Conchita, rushing over to her.

'It's nothing, don't worry,' said Rose, swatting her sister away. 'Hi, Beth.'

'Hi,' said Beth, looking at the scene with concern. 'I'll, um... I'll be off then.'

'Oh, don't go,' said Kylie. Then she looked at Rose. 'We can tell Beth, can't we?'

Rose shrugged and said, 'Sure.'

'Tell Beth what?' Conchita asked anxiously.

'If you calm down, I'll tell you,' said Rose. 'It's no big deal, really. Mom just came home and found me levitating, that's all.'

'_What_?' cried Conchita. 'Oh my God – you're possessed or something! Daddy, you have to do something! What are you going to do? Will she be okay?'

'Of course she'll be okay, seashell,' said Eduardo. 'I'll get some Ghostbusters here, and we can probably get this whole thing fixed in under an hour.'

'Oh, good,' said Conchita, suddenly changing her tone and taking her attention entirely away from her sister. 'So, um... which Ghostbusters would those be?'

'The A-team, surely,' Kylie said at once.

'Is that a good idea?' said Conchita. 'What if something really bad and really complicated happens to somebody else, and there's only the B-team to deal with it?'

'Well, the B-team's very good too,' said Eduardo. 'I'd be happy with either one on call, or we could mix them up – bring a couple of each out here. They can handle that. Or did you have something else in mind?' he asked, looking at Conchita with a raised eyebrow.

'Oh, no, not really,' Conchita said nonchalantly. 'It's just that, well, if you got the two new guys it'd be good experience for them, wouldn't it? And you could, like, supervise and stuff.'

Eduardo sighed. 'I don't know...'

'Excuse me,' said Rose. 'Is anybody interested in what _I_ want?'

All eyes turned to her.

'Let's have the new guys,' said Rose, looking at Conchita, who smiled gratefully. 'I don't want four of them barging in here, and I like Freya and, quite frankly, Josh needs all the help he can get.'

'Well,' said Kylie, 'we _all_ like Freya.'

'And Josh isn't so bad,' said Eduardo. 'Not at ghostbusting, anyways.'

'That's settled, then,' said Beth. 'Would you like me to call?'

'No need,' said Eduardo, whipping out a cell phone. 'I'll soon bring them running.'

* * *

Lucy made herself comfortable on the bed while Kevin wheeled the ultrasound machine into position and then drew the curtains around the cubicle. Lucy pulled her trousers down a little way, then she pulled her top up to her chest. Kevin immediately squirted a generous amount of cold gel onto her abdomen, causing her to squeal.

'You might've warned me, Kev!' said Lucy.

'Come on, Luce,' Kevin grinned, 'you know how this goes. Okay, let's take a look here...'

Kevin moved the scanner around until he found what he was looking for. An enormous smile split his face, then he turned the machine so that Lucy could see the screen.

'There's the gestational sac,' Kevin said in an awed voice, pointing to a tiny part of the grainy image.

'Oh my God...' Lucy breathed. 'Um... you can't tell how many babies are in there yet, can you?'

Kevin laughed. 'Are you thinking about Phoebe from _Friends_?'

'Yeah, I am.'

'You've already given birth to _two_ babies at once. Surely moving up to three would be the next logical progression!'

'Moving down to _one_ would be the next logical progression, Kev,' Lucy said firmly.

'Well, that's _probably_ what'll happen,' said Kevin. 'There's only the one sac, so...'

'Tom and Jon only had one sac.'

'Yeah, I can't make any guarantees.'

They both stared at the image on the screen for a while longer, then Lucy let out a particularly deep breath.

'I really should go home now,' she said. 'I might be in time to kiss the boys goodnight.'

'I have my mom's car today,' said Kevin, as he started to pack up the ultrasound machine. 'I'll give you a ride.'

'Thanks, Kev,' said Lucy. 'You really are a diamond.'

'Hey,' said Kevin, 'it's the least I can do, right?'

* * *

'Good luck,' said Beth, hugging Kylie in the hallway. 'Let me know how it goes. Ah!' as the doorbell rang. 'I guess I'll answer that.'

She was at the stage of reaching for the door handle when Conchita appeared, barged in front of her, hurled the door open and then said bashfully, 'Hi.'

On the threshold stood two young people, a man and a woman, in full ghostbusting gear.

'Hi, Chita,' said the woman. 'How are you?'

'Okay,' said Conchita, who was looking only at the male Ghostbuster. 'Come on in.' She stepped to one side.

'Oh, hi... um...' the young woman said, smiling uncertainly at Beth.

'Beth,' said Beth, smiling back. 'Hi, and now bye – I'm just leaving.'

'That's a shame,' said Josh, smiling at Beth's retreating form, then turning back to the hallway to see Eduardo standing there looking at him. He smiled sheepishly. 'Here's your proton pack, boss.'

'Thanks,' said Eduardo, taking the proffered item and sliding it onto his back. 'I appreciate you both coming out here at this time.'

'No problem,' said Freya. 'What's the trouble?'

'Kylie found Rose passed out and levitating over her bed.'

'Poor kid,' said Freya. 'We'd better check her out first, hadn't we?'

'She's in the kitchen,' said Eduardo, so Freya made her way to the kitchen.

Josh, meanwhile, hung around in the hallway saying to Conchita, 'Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to your sister while I'm around.'

Conchita raised an eyebrow and said, 'Oh no? Superhero, are you?'

'Of course not,' said Josh, looking a little cowed. 'But I'll do my best.'

Conchita's smitten look was fading, but it returned the moment Josh placed a hand on her arm and smiled at her, saying, 'Seriously, Chita, I know the feeling. I worry about my kid brother.'

'Come on, Josh – time's a-wasting,' said Eduardo, stepping into Josh's personal space and then chivvying him into the kitchen.

Freya was already taking PKE readings from Rose, with Kylie watching the screen of the meter over her shoulder. When Eduardo came in, Kylie looked up and said with deep concern in her eyes and her voice, 'This doesn't look good, Eduardo.'

'Well, _that's_ reassuring,' said Rose.

'Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry!' said Kylie, giving her a hug. 'Obviously you'll be all right – I didn't mean that you wouldn't. I just hate having to see you go through anything stressful.'

'Let's deal with it as quick as we can, then,' said Freya. 'We'd better sweep the whole house, hadn't we, Eduardo? Rose is giving off strong readings, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's all hiding inside her, does it?'

Rose looked down at her feet, scowling.

'You need to work on your bedside manner, Freya,' said Josh.

Freya looked at Rose and smiled reassuringly. 'Sorry, Rose. If it _is_ all on you, we can deal with it, no problem. But maybe it's not. Mind if I check your room?'

'What do you mean?' asked Rose.

'Just with my PKE meter,' said Freya. 'I won't go rummaging in your drawers and stuff... well, unless I have to. There's always a chance I'll have to take a little peek, isn't there?'

Rose looked displeased for a moment, then shrugged and said, 'If somebody has to do it.'

'I'll show you where it is,' said Eduardo, leading Freya from the kitchen. Josh watched them go, apparently unsure of whether to follow them, then decided to stay put.

'Where's Merida?' Conchita asked suddenly from the kitchen doorway.

'I don't know,' said Kylie. 'I haven't seen her since this morning. But she had her dinner, didn't she, Rosy?'

'Yes,' said Rose, 'but she didn't meow and try to trip me up while I was giving it to her. In fact she waited until I'd left the room, and then she sniffed what I put down _very_ suspiciously when she thought I wasn't looking. But she ate it in the end.'

'And nothing else seemed wrong at that point?' asked Kylie.

'No,' said Rose. 'I told you – I started to feel weird while I was upstairs reading.'

'How do you feel now?' asked Josh.

Rose looked at him guardedly. 'All right.'

Just then Freya came scampering downstairs and back into the kitchen, saying, 'It seems to be in your closet, Rose.'

'My closet?' said Rose, looking alarmed. 'But that's private!'

'That's what we figured,' said Freya. 'Your dad refuses to go near it, so I thought I'd better come down and get your permission to open it.'

'Why don't _I_ open it?' said Rose.

'You're staying down here with me, Rose,' Kylie said firmly.

'Well...' said Rose, looking at Freya. 'Okay, I guess you'd better do it.'

'Thanks,' said Freya. 'We'll be very careful, I promise. Come on, Josh – time to earn your overtime.'

Josh took one last look at Conchita, then went trailing after Freya as she made her way back into the hallway and up the stairs. When they were out of earshot, Rose looked at Conchita and said dubiously, 'You really like that guy?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said Conchita. 'I don't really know him yet. I think he's hot, though.'

'He thinks the same thing about you, sweetie,' said Kylie. 'But I'm sure you won't rush into anything, even if he wants to.'

'He wants to,' said Rose, as the sound of proton fire became audible from upstairs.

'Don't worry about me, Mom,' said Conchita. 'Worry about Rose!'

'You're right,' said Kylie, and she reached out to stroke Rose's hair. 'Don't worry, sweetie – it'll all be over soon.'

'Yeah, about that,' said Rose. 'I didn't want to tell you in front of Dad, and then I didn't want to tell you in front of Josh, but it might be significant. In between feeding Merida and going to my room to read, I started my period.'

'You did?' said Kylie. 'Oh, baby, you're becoming a woman!'

She flung her arms around Rose and kept them there for a long time. When she finally let go, Rose found herself pulled straight into another crushing embrace, this time by her sister.

'I went into your room and took some of your stuff, Chita,' said Rose, her voice muffled in Conchita's chest. 'I know where you keep it – I didn't poke around.'

'Are you wearing a tampon?' Conchita asked loudly, much to her sister's consternation. 'Be careful about that. No one told me how painful it is taking one out the first time. Don't you even try it until you're sitting in a warm bath.'

'I'm not wearing one,' said Rose, pushing her away with a small smile, 'but thanks for the warning.'

Suddenly there came a loud clunk from upstairs and Rose looked at the ceiling above her, clearly alarmed. Out in the hallway, a spidery shape that glowed a brilliant white was floating down the stairs, with Josh and Freya in hot pursuit. As the entity was about to phase through the front door, Josh sent a blast of proton fire at it. He succeeded in frightening the thing off-course, but he also blew the window above the door to smithereens.

'Oh no!' he cried in dismay, as Eduardo appeared on the stairs behind him. 'Eduardo, I'm so sorry!'

'Don't worry, Josh,' said Eduardo. 'Absolutely everybody does that.'

Freya, meanwhile, had chased the entity into the living room and managed to secure it in a proton stream. Eduardo and Josh ran after her; Eduardo added his proton stream to Freya's while Josh produced a trap from the equipment strapped to his body and threw it underneath the ghostly shape. Seconds later, the entity was contained.

There was a moment of silent stillness, then Rose mooched in from the kitchen, asking, 'Is that it?'

Eduardo went over to her, ran his PKE meter over her and said, 'There's still... well, traces on you.'

'Just residual, surely,' said Josh. 'I mean, we trapped it, right?'

'Yeah, we trapped it all right,' said Eduardo, looking at the trap, but he didn't sound too sure.

'So what was it?' demanded Kylie, appearing in the doorway behind Rose. 'What did it want?'

'I guess Egon's the man for that,' said Freya.

Eduardo let out a sigh and said, 'We're really gonna notice a difference on that side of things when Egon retires.'

'Sure we can't persuade you to come back, Kylie?' asked Freya. 'Egon's really talking about it now, you know.'

'I don't think so, Freya,' said Kylie. 'But maybe I could hook you guys up with one of the eager young scholars at the Parapsychology Foundation.'

'Yeah?' said Freya with a grin. 'Like one you want to get rid of, maybe?'

'You mean one of the many who don't know how to use the Harvard referencing system?' said Kylie. 'What a good idea.'

'Now, where the heck is Josh?' Eduardo asked suddenly.

He, Kylie, Rose and Freya looked around them. Then Freya said, with a facetious grin, 'More to the point, where's Conchita?'

Eduardo tutted with annoyance and went off in search of them. He ended up in the back garden, where Conchita was down on all fours with her backside in the air, peering into a space underneath the shed.

'Merida!' she said. 'Here, kitty! It's okay – the ghost's all gone now!'

Josh, who had been standing there watching, stood to attention when he saw Eduardo frowning at him and said, 'We found your cat. She doesn't seem to want to come out, though.'

'What's wrong with her now?' Eduardo asked, concerned, and he went to crouch down beside Conchita. 'Maybe there really is something still here.'

'But you trapped it, didn't you?' said Conchita. 'Maybe she's just picking up on some leftover atmosphere or something. I wish she'd come out – I'm worried about her.'

'Me too,' said Eduardo. 'But she doesn't look hurt or possessed or nothing – just freaked out.'

'Hey,' said Josh, taking a step nearer, 'can I take a look at her? I like cats.'

Eduardo turned round and looked at him suspiciously. 'You like cats?'

'I genuinely do,' said Josh. 'I'm not trying to impress anybody, Eduardo, I promise.'

'You'll have to get right down to take a look at her,' said Conchita, getting to her feet, 'and even then you won't see her too well.'

Josh bent right down, just as Conchita had been doing, and peered into the space. As he did so, she looked at him in almost exactly the way that he had been looking at her.

'Oh yeah, I see her,' he said. 'Poor thing – she's obviously shaken up. Wow, she's real pretty.'

'She's not real friendly, though,' said Eduardo. 'I'm afraid you won't be able to bond with her, even when she's feeling better.'

'She adores the four of us,' said Conchita. 'Anyone else, she can't see the point in them even being alive.'

'Well,' said Josh, laughing, 'it's smart to know who your friends are. I guess I'll leave her alone now,' and he got to his feet. 'Don't worry – I'm sure she'll be back to herself real soon.'

He gave Conchita a smile, and she blushed and dimpled at him in return. Then Freya appeared on the scene, saying, 'Come _on_, Josh – I'm waiting to drive you home!'


	2. Chapter 2

As Lucy entered the front hallway of her home, she saw Jandro coming down the stairs.

'Hey, Luce,' he said, fixing her with a smile. 'I just got the boys off to sleep.'

'I'll have to give them both an extra kiss in the morning, then,' said Lucy. 'I didn't mean to get back so late, but...'

'Were you telling Kev you're pregnant?' said Jandro.

'Yes, I was,' said Lucy.

'I bet he's over the moon!' Jandro grinned.

'Yes, he is,' said Lucy. 'We did an ultrasound. I guess it was kinda selfish of us to do it without you and Oscar there, but we just couldn't help ourselves.'

'That's okay,' said Jandro. 'I completely understand, Luce, and I know Oscar will too.'

'Jandro, I'm going to ask you a really stupid question now,' said Lucy.

'You are?'

'Yes, I am. It's stupid because it's much too late in the game for me to ask it to you, and I already know the answer anyway, but I still feel like I need to do it.'

'Go ahead, Luce,' said Jandro. 'I promise I'll give you the fullest and most honest answer I can.'

Lucy smiled and stroked Jandro's cheek. She led him into the living room, where they sat down together on the couch.

'Jandro,' said Lucy, looking into his eyes, 'are you absolutely, one hundred percent certain that you're okay with me carrying this baby?'

'Yes, Luce,' said Jandro, meeting her gaze squarely, 'I'm absolutely, one hundred percent certain that I'm okay with you carrying this baby. It's something I really want you to do for Kevin and Oscar... I mean, it's something I really want _us_ to do for them.'

'So... so you're really not going to mind the sight of my belly swollen with someone else's kid?'

'I'm going to _love_ that sight, I just know it.'

'And after the baby's been born,' Lucy pressed, 'when I'm expressing several gallons of breast milk every day and taking it over to Kev's place in a coolbox, what will you do then?'

'I'll carry the coolbox,' said Jandro.

Lucy laughed, threw her arms around Jandro and started crying onto his shoulder.

'We're all one family, Luce,' said Jandro. 'You remember that time I got drunk, right at the end of seventh grade?'

'Of course,' said Lucy. 'It's the only time _I_ ever got drunk as well... and that's certainly not the only reason I remember it so vividly.'

'When I came into the living room the next morning with my soiled linen, and I saw you and Kevin sitting there eating pizza together,' said Jandro, 'I knew for certain that the three of us would always be family. Like I said at the time, friends are the family you choose for yourself... and you, me and Kevin chose each other because, very simply, we love each other.'

'You really are wonderful, Jandro,' said Lucy, pulling away from him slightly and drying her eyes. 'And you're absolutely, one hundred percent right.'

'We should go out to dinner one night to celebrate this wonderful news,' said Jandro. 'All six of us, I mean – Mike and Ella too.'

'Kev had the same idea in the car just now,' said Lucy. 'He's going to tell Mike and Ella about the baby as soon as he can pin one of them down, plus he's going to tell his family – his _biological_ family, I mean – and of course he'll be telling Oscar all about it right now, and Oscar will certainly want to tell _his_ family, but Kev doesn't think anyone else should be told yet, just in case... well, you know.'

'Yeah, I know,' said Jandro, 'and Kev is totally right as usual. But it's all going to come off without a hitch, Luce – I can feel it in my water!'

Lucy smiled, nodded and then cuddled up to Jandro on the couch.

* * *

It was very late when Eduardo went downstairs wearing men's pyjamas and found Kylie in the living room, sitting on the sofa and hunched over her laptop. He frowned slightly, then went to sit next to her, saying, 'Aren't you coming to bed? You can't still be trying to find someone who'll fix our window.'

'Of course I'm not,' said Kylie. 'Finding someone to fix the window, I mean – I did that hours ago. I'm just debating with myself whether this article on ESP is really ready for the journal.'

'You normally decide that kind of thing in two minutes flat.'

'Yes, but I'm not _normally_ worried out of my mind. I know I couldn't sleep if I tried. _You _weren't sleeping, were you?'

'Not well,' said Eduardo. 'But it's okay, isn't it? You saw us trap it, and you'd have to expect some residual PKE on Rose. We don't have any real reason to think it's not over.'

'Okay,' said Kylie, 'but we both know from past experience that trapping something isn't always the end of it, and I saw what you were like – you're not sure either. Actually, it's Merida more than anything, making me worry. I haven't gone to check, but I'm pretty sure she's still under the shed.'

'I wonder if she's possessed or something,' said Eduardo. 'Nobody actually ran a PKE meter over her, did they?'

Kylie laughed. 'I'd like to see anyone try. But if anything _has_ gotten into her, I kind of think she can handle it. It's Rose I'm worried about.'

'Hey,' said Eduardo, nudging her playfully, 'never underestimate a Rivera.'

'Yeah, I know,' said Kylie, sounding somewhat reassured. 'It's just, when I went upstairs and saw her floating four feet above her bed, I nearly had a heart attack!'

'I nearly had one when you told me,' said Eduardo. 'Thank goodness we're equipped to deal with that kind of thing. I mean, it's less awkward to find your child levitating than masturbating, right?'

Kylie gave him a look of absolute astonishment. 'What on earth makes you say that? Oh my God – you never have, have you?'

'Of course not,' said Eduardo. 'You know I'd never let that happen. I guess I said that because I, well...' He seemed to consider for a moment, then finished weakly, 'I don't know.'

'You're weird,' said Kylie, suddenly slamming the laptop shut, 'and that article is a load of crap. I'm gonna tell Simon he has to do it again, and if he's lucky it might make the September issue.'

'Feeling better, then?'

'Oh, I don't know. I still wonder if what happened to Rose has any connection with the other thing.'

'What other thing?'

'Oh, I didn't tell you, did I?' said Kylie. 'She got her first period today.'

'Oh, wow,' said Eduardo. 'Well, I guess that's not surprising. She's fifteen... and a half! It was to be expected, really.'

'Kind of sobering, though.'

'Yeah. There goes the last of that generation, all grown up.'

'Well,' said Kylie, smiling wistfully, 'not quite yet. But it's easy to forget how mature little Rosy's growing, isn't it? Whereas Chita was taller than me by the time she was thirteen – it was very unnerving.'

'What _I_ found unnerving was that she was already interested in boys back then.'

'Yes, well, she's never going to be taller than _you_. Anyway, I think it was more that boys were interested in _her_.' She smiled wryly at him. 'Or is that worse?'

'I just worry about her,' said Eduardo. 'She puts herself out there so much. She's been hurt before, and it could be a lot worse next time. I don't understand how she can wear her heart on her sleeve like she does. But I don't think I'm unreasonable about that kind of thing, am I?'

'I don't know, maybe,' said Kylie. 'What about when Josh was here earlier? Don't you think you might be taking the overprotective dad thing a little too far with him?'

'Oh, that,' said Eduardo, scowling slightly. 'I'm not _over_protective, Ky – just protective. What you don't know is that in the six weeks I've known Josh, he's hit on every female client he's met between the ages of eighteen and forty. Maybe even sixteen and forty-five.'

'Oh,' said Kylie, flashing him a facetious smile, 'you mean he's the Venkman character.'

Eduardo gave her a look. 'If you want to oversimplify it like that, sure.'

'Maybe it's oversimplifying and maybe it's not,' said Kylie. 'None of us really knows him yet. He might be a horrible philanderer or a really great guy.'

'Probably something in between,' said Eduardo. 'It seems he likes cats, anyway.'

'Well in that case,' said Kylie, 'I'd like to shake him by the hand. Okay, come on – let's go to bed. It doesn't seem like anything else is going to happen tonight.'

No sooner had she said this than there came the sound of a door bursting off its hinges somewhere upstairs, and through the living room doorway they could see the hall filled with a brilliant white light. Kylie and Eduardo both sprang to their feet and rocketed up the stairs, where they found Rose standing in her bedroom doorway with the light source emanating from her eyes and mouth, her bedroom door lying on the ground, and Conchita hefting Eduardo's proton pack along the landing.

'Oh my God!' she said, on catching sight of Rose. 'Daddy, you're going to have to shoot her!'

Eduardo hurried to retrieve his proton pack, took aim, stood there for a few seconds and then said, 'I can't.'

'You have to!' said Kylie. 'I _certainly_ can't do it!'

'I _certainly_ can't do it either!' said Eduardo.

'I guess I'll have to do it, then,' said Conchita, taking control of the weapon, carefully adjusting the setting with the help of the light provided by Rose, then taking aim and firing at her sister, who immediately began to writhe and scream.

'Oh God,' muttered Kylie, turning away and shielding her eyes.

The light began to die, and Conchita stopped firing. Rose at once began to glow again, so Conchita took a deep breath and directed a long, low, steady beam at her sister until the light had quite vanished. Then she looked at Eduardo and said, 'I thought a ghost would fly out of her or something.'

'Yeah, me too,' Eduardo said helplessly.

Conchita looked blankly at him for a moment, then turned her attention to Rose, asking, 'Are you okay?'

'You blasted me!' said Rose, glaring at her.

'I had to!' said Conchita. 'You were, like, possessed!'

Rose then turned her glare onto her father. 'I thought you said you'd trapped it!'

'Well,' said Eduardo, 'we trapped _something_.'

'Oh, great,' said Rose, rolling her eyes. '_And_ it broke my bedroom door!'

'That's the least of our worries, sweetie,' said Kylie.

'Why?' Rose demanded. 'What's happening? Why didn't trapping that thing fix it? Why didn't Chita blasting me make something else happen? What's going to happen to me now?'

'Nothing is going to happen to you,' said Conchita, going to put her arms around Rose.

'We need Egon!' Kylie announced suddenly.

'Egon can help us in the morning,' said Eduardo. 'In the meantime, we can probably come up with some pretty good ideas to be going on with.'

'You mean guesses,' said Rose.

'_Educated_ guesses,' said Eduardo. 'There've been a few times when we actually managed to trap something but there was still more to do. A couple of them happened way back when you were there, Kylie, not long after we started.'

'Right,' said Kylie. 'The vampire clowns spring to mind, then Leonard Bates and his wishing well bride, obviously.'

'Wow,' said Rose. 'He sounds like some kind of sicko.'

'He gave us a very reasonable explanation,' said Kylie, 'but never mind about him now. So Eduardo, what you're suggesting is, there's some kind of larger entity that's either in charge of the one you trapped, or that actually created it.'

'So what does that mean?' Rose demanded. 'Can we find it right now? You left a trap somewhere around here, right? And a PKE meter?'

'Of course we did,' said Eduardo. 'I'll go ghost-hunting with them right now.'

He picked up his proton pack, collected some more equipment from another room and made his way downstairs. Kylie went over to Rose and took over hugging duties from Conchita, who then decided to turn on the landing light.

'I'm really sorry I blasted you, Rosy,' she said.

'That's fine,' said Rose. 'I'd have done the same thing to you. _Especially_ if you were possessed.'

She grinned, and Conchita grinned back. Kylie stood there looking anxious and stroking Rose's hair, until Rose said, 'I have to go to the bathroom.'

'Oh, of course,' said Kylie, taking a step back, and Rose went padding off down the landing.

Conchita took a step towards Kylie and said quietly, 'I wonder if she's going to get any pain.'

'It's fifty-fifty, I guess,' said Kylie. '_You _didn't get any the first few times, did you?'

'No, not for a couple of _years_.'

'Was I right not to warn you? I mean, not everybody gets it, and we don't want her to _expect_ pain, do we?'

'She already knows it might happen, Mom,' said Conchita. 'She knows what's going on when you or I have to go to bed and curl up in a ball.'

Kylie sighed and said, 'Why does she have to go through both these things at once?'

'Maybe they're related,' said Conchita. 'That can happen, can't it? Like if it's a poltergeist or something?'

'Oh yes, absolutely,' said Kylie, as Eduardo came back up the stairs.

'Well,' he said, 'I can't find anything downstairs, and the good news is, Merida's clean. Still freaked out, but let's not worry about her unless she refuses her breakfast.'

'Maybe I should try again with her,' said Conchita.

'I think she just wants to be left alone,' said Eduardo, 'and I think _you _need to get some sleep.'

As he was saying this, Rose emerged from the bathroom looking distinctly put out. She seemed about to say something, then noticed Eduardo and decided against it.

'I'm sorry we didn't get it, _queridita_,' Eduardo said to her.

'_Esta bien_,' said Rose. 'I guess this one isn't so easy, huh? So, come on – you haven't pointed that thing at _me_ yet.'

She held out her arms and smiled bravely so, with a look of great apprehension, Eduardo ran the PKE meter over her.

'Well,' he said, with a thinly disguised grimace, 'we already knew it was most interested in you. I think the first thing to try is getting you out of the house.'

Rose raised an eyebrow. 'Right now?'

'Well...'

'Surely it's easier to stick it out for the rest of the night,' said Rose. 'I'd rather do that.'

'All right,' Eduardo said uncertainly. 'In the morning, we'll throw ourselves on the mercy of Carl and Beth. You can stay with them too, Chita.'

'What about Merida?' asked Rose.

'She can go with you,' said Eduardo. 'Oh no, wait, she can't – she'll get one sniff of Ralph and Felix and then she absolutely will not stop, ever, until they are dead.'

'I'm sure Kevin would be happy to take her,' said Kylie.

'Right,' said Conchita. 'And I'm sure Oscar will be fine to put up with her.'

'Of course! It's so obvious,' said Eduardo. 'Okay, _chicas, volver a dormir. Buenas noches._'

Rose smiled dryly. '_Eso espero. _G'night, everyone. Love you, Mom. _Te amo,_ Dad.'

She departed with a reassuring squeeze to her mother's arm, and Kylie looked mortified at this. Rose went back through her empty door frame as Conchita kissed both her parents goodnight, then she too trotted back to her own room, where she voluntarily left the door open.

'Did you see that?' whispered Kylie, dragging Eduardo further down the landing, away from Rose's room. '_She_ just comforted _me_! It's supposed to be the other way around!'

'She can see you're shaken up,' said Eduardo, putting his arm around her.

'I'm not supposed to _let_ her see that!' said Kylie. 'Oh, Eduardo, I can't handle this!'

'Of course you can.'

'No I can't! I couldn't even handle it when Pagan got into situations like this!'

'You handled that the best you could,' said Eduardo. 'I'll never forget the time Egon and I found you suffocating in mummy bandages to protect him.'

'Exactly,' said Kylie. 'Just imagine what I'd do for Rose! I would... anything... if there was even the smallest chance it would help her.'

'Of course you would,' said Eduardo, 'but you won't have to.'

'You don't know that.'

'Okay, well then, we'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. Now, what time is it? I wonder when I can reasonably call Beth and tell her she has to take in refugees.'

'You know you can call Beth at three in the morning if necessary,' said Kylie.

'I _do_ know that,' said Eduardo, 'but this time, I don't think it's necessary.'

* * *

In the morning, a medium-sized family car pulled up outside Carl and Beth's house. At once James, Beth and Carl all piled out of their front door, while Kevin appeared from the apartment above the garage and made his way down the stairs.

'_Madre de Dios_ – did they really have to form a welcoming committee?' muttered Rose.

She and Conchita were sitting on the back seat with a cat carrier between them, and from this emitted the most pitiable mews anybody could imagine. Conchita got out of the car, took out the cat carrier and placed it on the roof, while Eduardo and Kylie got out of the front of the vehicle.

'Thank you so much for taking her, Kevin,' said Conchita, as he came to retrieve the carrier.

'It's the least I can do,' said Kevin, smiling reassuringly at Rose as she climbed out of the car. 'She'll be fine with me – don't you worry. So long as you brought some food.'

'We did,' said Conchita, going to the back of the car to open the boot.

'I'll take your bags,' said Carl, going over to her.

'They're not exactly heavy,' said Rose.

'No, I can see what you mean,' said Carl, looking at the two small backpacks beside the tins of cat food. 'You're expecting to deal with this thing fast, then?'

'Hopefully it'll only be for a night,' said Kylie. 'Jim, I'll give you a ride to school. Chita's going, even though nobody thinks she should have to after the night we had.'

'I like school,' said Conchita, 'and there isn't very much left now.'

'You're ridiculous,' said Rose, rather nastily.

Beth smiled warmly at her and said, 'Just a quiet day in front of the TV for you, hon?'

'I don't know,' said Rose. 'Depends what's on, I guess.'

James looked at her and said, a little awkwardly, 'You can play with my mice if you want to, Rose.'

Rose scowled. 'Not everybody wants to play with your mice, James.'

'Rose, come on, he's just trying to be nice,' said Eduardo.

'Right, right, I know,' said Rose. 'Sorry, Jim.'

'No problem,' said James. 'I hope you feel better, or... y'know, it's all fixed real soon.' He looked at Kylie. 'Shall we go to school now?'

'Sure thing,' said Kylie. 'Come on, Chita.'

'Okay, Mom,' said Conchita, who had been peering through the bars of the cat carrier in Kevin's arms. 'Bye, Merida. Be good for Kevin and Oscar.' She looked at Rose and Eduardo. 'Maybe one of you should go up and help her settle in.'

'Right,' said Kevin. 'You know she hates me, and she hates Oscar even more.'

'You do it, Dad,' said Rose. 'She's scared of me.'

There was real pain evident in her voice, and for a moment everyone was silent. Then Kylie chivvied James and Conchita into the car, Beth put her arm around Rose and led her into the house, and Eduardo with the cat food ascended the staircase behind Kevin and Merida. Carl stood awkwardly outside for a moment, then made his way into the house.

* * *

In the apartment, Oscar was in the kitchenette trying to put on his socks and eat cereal at the same time. Eduardo took in the sight with a knowing smile, saying, 'Hi, Oscar. Sorry about this.'

'Hi,' said Oscar, 'and, no problem. I gotta go. Bye!'

So saying, he threw his empty cereal bowl into the sink, stepped into a pair of shoes, gave Kevin a kiss goodbye and then hurried out of the door.

'I'm not keeping _you_, am I, Kev?' Eduardo asked.

'No,' said Kevin. 'My shift doesn't start until this afternoon. I was hoping to go see Ella first, but she won't be around 'til lunch hour, so I guess Merida has my undivided attention until then.'

He placed the cat carrier on the floor, opened it and took a step back. Merida remained hunched at the bottom, staring up at Eduardo and Kevin with huge, yellow eyes.

'Come on, Merida,' Eduardo said coaxingly. 'You know Kevin.'

Merida wouldn't move, but only looked back up at the two men with fear and reproach in her face. Eduardo frowned.

'Well, now I feel bad!' he said.

'Don't feel bad,' Kevin said with a laugh. 'She's just being silly.'

'Well,' said Eduardo, 'I guess there's no harm her staying in there all day if she wants to, but I guess she'll come out eventually.'

'I'd rather have a scared cat to take care of than Jimmy's mice,' said Kevin. 'I never did like rodents as pets.'

'Still, huh?' said Eduardo, with another wistful smile. 'Do you remember when _tu abuelo_ tried giving you a pair?'

'No,' said Kevin, laughing at the very idea.

'You hated them. They ended up living in my room. I thought you'd remember them a little – they lived for about three years.'

'What were their names?'

'Oh, you had to ask,' Eduardo said, rolling his eyes in self-reproach. 'I called them Teela and Marlena.'

'I have no memory of that,' said Kevin, laughing again as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

Eduardo looked at him curiously. 'You're in a good mood.'

'I'm always in a good mood,' said Kevin. 'I have a wonderful life.'

'Well, that's good to hear,' said Eduardo. Then he looked reproachfully into Merida's carrier, saying, 'You have a wonderful life too, y'know. You don't know you're born.'

'I'm sorry about Rose,' Kevin said suddenly. 'I didn't mean to be so cheerful while she's suffering.'

'It's okay,' said Eduardo. 'You're doing more than enough for us.'

'Am I?' said Kevin. 'I'll have a talk with Rosy if she wants one. She seems to like me, and I _have_ been through something similar myself.'

'Thanks, Kev,' said Eduardo, giving him a hug. 'And she doesn't just like you – she loves you.'

'Yeah, well,' said Kevin, 'she _loves_ all of us, but I think she _likes_ me more than maybe one or two of the other members of our family.'

'Good point,' Eduardo said wryly. 'Now I'd better go down and check on her before I see about exorcising the house.'

'Exorcising, huh?' said Kevin. 'Isn't that more what the Catholic Church would do?'

'_Dios te salve, María,_' said Eduardo. '_Bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús _etcetera. I'll see you later,' and he swept out of the door. He then let himself into the main house, where he met Beth as she was coming downstairs.

'She's decided to go to sleep,' said Beth. 'I guess she didn't get very much last night.'

'I won't disturb her, then,' said Eduardo. 'Thanks for taking care of her, Beth. And Chita too, when she gets here.'

'Oh, don't be silly. I still owe you for all those times you took care of Kevin.'

'Beth, come on – you must've paid that all back before Rose was even born.'

'I don't just mean babysitting hours, Eduardo,' said Beth, smiling warmly at him. He smiled back.

Carl popped his head out of a doorway just then, saying, 'Coffee and a catch-up, Eduardo?'

'Okay, Carl,' said Eduardo, and followed Carl into the kitchen. Beth smiled at the sight, then went off to another room.

'It's only instant,' said Carl, as he began boiling the kettle and spooning instant coffee into mugs.

'Okay, fine,' said Eduardo, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

'So,' said Carl, 'has Chita shown you her stuff on student accommodation?'

'No,' said Eduardo, looking surprised and a little downcast.

'Oh,' said Carl. 'Well, she and Jamie only brought it home yesterday. Of _course_ she didn't show it to you last night – that was a stupid question. Sorry.'

'Is she definitely going to live at college?' Eduardo asked.

'I don't know,' said Carl. 'I'm sure she won't decide anything without consulting you and your bank balance. Hey now, don't look like that – it's not like you'll never see her again.'

'I know,' said Eduardo. 'It's just sad when your kids grow up, isn't it?'

'Sadder if you haven't made a real connection with them,' said Carl. 'You'll be okay with yours.'

'Yeah, I guess so,' said Eduardo, as Carl turned his back to pour boiling water onto the instant coffee granules. 'So Jim's thinking of moving too, huh? If he goes, he'll leave a big piece of his heart here with you.'

'I think you're right there,' said Carl, putting the coffee mugs on the breakfast bar and taking his seat. 'It's funny, isn't it? I never said a word to him about becoming a cop, and now look.'

'It's not so funny,' Eduardo smiled wryly.

'I was fine with him seeing Harry too, wasn't I?' Carl said proudly. 'I said fine, you be as bisexual as you want, and now he's interested in a girl again.'

Eduardo raised an eyebrow. 'And that's better, is it?'

'It's _easier_ for me,' said Carl. 'Maybe I'm wrong to say that, but I said it anyway, so... there it is.'

'You've come a long way,' said Eduardo. 'I know that. But look, what girl are you talking about, anyway? Chita said she thought James was starting something with Isabel.'

'Yes, she's the girl,' said Carl, as though he were talking to a simpleton.

'Oh!' said Eduardo. 'So, um... so you're okay with that?'

'Well, yeah,' said Carl. 'Why wouldn't I be? What's wrong with her?'

'Nothing's _wrong _with her,' said Eduardo. 'It's just... well, to be honest, I'm a little surprised _you_ see it that way.'

'Why?' asked Carl, looking completely blank.

'Well, because she –' but he stopped when Beth suddenly appeared in the doorway, out of Carl's view, making frantic gestures at him to stop. 'She, um, she, she doesn't like mice,' he finished weakly, then drained his coffee mug. 'Look, I gotta go – my daughter has ghost trouble, don't forget.'

'I _haven't_ forgotten,' said Carl, frowning. 'What are you talking about mice for? Something funny's going on here!'

'Yeah, hilarious,' Eduardo muttered, sliding off the kitchen stool. 'Thanks for the coffee, Carl. I'll see you later.'

He made his way out of the house with a blank look on his face, and waited on the front steps as if expecting someone to join him. Seconds later, Beth appeared.

'How in God's name,' Eduardo said to her, quietly but shrilly, 'did he miss _that_?'

'Oh, I don't know!' said Beth.

'Well, don't you think somebody ought to tell him?'

'Probably somebody should... but I just don't want them to.'

'I can understand that,' said Eduardo, giving Beth's arm a squeeze. 'I'll, um... see _you_ later too,' and he went on his way.


	3. Chapter 3

Ella opened the front door and stood to one side to let Kevin into her apartment.

'Hey, Ella,' he said, fixing her with a smile. 'Are you sure you've got time for this?'

'Plenty of time, Kev,' said Ella, smiling back at him. 'I don't have to be back at work for another half-hour. Come into the living room and tell me this fantastic news of yours.'

Ella led the way into the living room, where they both made themselves comfortable on the couch. Kevin took a few moments to prepare himself, then he looked up and met Ella's expectant gaze.

'Lucy's pregnant,' he said. 'One of the embryos implanted successfully.'

Ella smiled widely and wrapped her arms around Kevin.

'Oh, Kev, that really is the most wonderful news,' she said. 'I'm so happy for you and Oscar, and for Lucy too. I know how much you and she both wanted her to be the one to do it for you.'

'I wanted you to be one of the first to know, Ella,' said Kevin. 'I haven't forgotten that the whole thing was your idea in the first place, and me and Oscar will always be so grateful to you for offering to do it for us yourself, but we know how you and Mike have been trying for a while and it was definitely the right call when we all decided it wasn't the right time for you to have a baby for someone else.'

'It's okay, Kev,' said Ella. 'I didn't mean to imply that this was ever about you picking between the two of us as your favourite potential incubator.'

'I'm glad to hear it,' said Kevin. 'We're all in this together, really – the six of us, I mean – and I really hope you and Mike will join the rest of us for a celebratory meal one evening next week.'

'I'm sure nothing would give either of us greater pleasure,' said Ella, beaming at Kevin. 'It's, er... it's only the evening we're all going to spend together, huh? Not the night?'

Kevin laughed and said, 'I don't know about that. We're not seventeen anymore, Ella.'

'You can't help getting older, Kev, but you _can_ help getting old.'

'Yeah, well I'm sure having a baby together will keep me and Oscar young for a while longer.'

Ella smiled wistfully and rose to her feet. She went over to a nearby desk and retrieved a sheet of paper from a drawer, then she returned to the couch and placed the paper in Kevin's hand.

'This came from the clinic yesterday,' said Ella. 'I'd really appreciate your thoughts on it, Kev.'

'Okay,' said Kevin, scanning the piece of paper. 'Um... well, this isn't really my area of expertise, but your results seem to be well within the parameters of what would be considered normal, Ella.'

'_My_ results are, yeah,' said Ella. 'Now take a look at Mike's.'

Kevin's eyes travelled further down the paper, then they widened slightly.

'Oh,' said Kevin. 'Oh, I see.'

At that moment, the front door could be heard to open. Kevin and Ella both looked up as Michael appeared from the hallway, wearing a hard hat and a fluorescent jacket.

'We got the Staten Island contract!' Michael announced, grinning all over his face. 'That should keep the wolf from the door for another couple of years. Hey, what's going on in here?'

'That's wonderful news, Mikey,' said Ella. 'I know how hard you worked to secure that contract.'

'Ella, are you showing Kev my low sperm count?' said Michael, not sounding too happy about the idea.

'Well... yeah, I guess I am,' Ella was forced to admit. 'After all, he _is_ a nurse, you know!'

Michael shrugged, sighed and collapsed into an armchair before fixing Kevin with a quizzical look.

'What do you reckon, Kev?' he asked. 'Should we immediately give up all hope of ever having a baby?'

'I wouldn't say that, Mike,' Kevin replied. 'This is a pretty _high_ low sperm count... I think, although it's not really my area.'

'But kids _are_ your area,' said Michael.

'Only after they've actually been born,' said Kevin.

'Maybe we should try the IVF after all,' said Michael. 'But it's pretty expensive, isn't it? That's why you're still living above your parents' garage, right, Kev?'

'Yes, partly,' said Kevin, 'although we've managed to save up enough for a deposit on our own place now... and we're just about to make use of it because Lucy's pregnant.'

'Oh wow, that's so great!' said Michael, giving Kevin a warm smile. 'Now I can see exactly how you two got onto the subject of my low sperm count.'

'There are other things we can try instead of IVF, aren't there?' said Ella. 'We really only scratched the surface when we started looking into adoption, and there's always the option of donor sperm.'

Michael frowned and did not reply. Kevin rose to his feet.

'You two have a lot to talk about, so I'm gonna leave you to make a start,' he said. 'Mike, you'll come out for a celebratory meal with the rest of us sometime next week, won't you?'

'I'd love to, Kev,' said Michael. 'The six of us don't get together nearly so often as we should nowadays.'

Ella led Kevin back into the hallway, and Michael followed behind. Ella gave Kevin another hug, then Michael gave him one as Ella opened the front door.

'Kev, you won't tell anyone about my low sperm count, will you?' Michael said quietly.

'Of course not, Mike,' said Kevin, patting him on the back reassuringly. 'I know the meaning of professional discretion.'

Kevin exchanged a final shoulder-clap and smile with Michael, then he received a kiss on the cheek from Ella, after which he found himself able to leave the apartment.

'We really do need to talk about those results, Mike,' Ella said as she closed the door. 'Not right now, of course, 'cause I need to get to work pretty soon, but maybe when I get home?'

'Okay, sure,' said Michael. 'You know, I guess using donor sperm might not be so bad. Maybe we could get one of our friends to give us some. Oscar, maybe.'

'Oh, Mike,' said Ella, giggling slightly, 'don't you think that would complicate things too much? Lucy's already having Kevin's baby for Kevin and Oscar, and now you want me to have Oscar's baby for you and me...'

'Hmm... yeah, I guess going the anonymous route might be better,' said Michael. 'I'll read those brochures again while you're at work... and I'll read the adoption ones as well.'

'Thanks, Mikey,' said Ella, snaking her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest.

'We might decide to keep on trying a while longer before we do any of that stuff,' said Michael.

'Yes,' said Ella, 'we might decide to do that.'

'But... but if none of it works out for us,' said Michael, 'and it turns out it's going to be just the two of us forever... Ella, that wouldn't be so bad, would it?'

'No, Mike,' said Ella, squeezing him tightly, 'it wouldn't be so bad at all.'

* * *

James and Conchita came home from school together, had some Go-Gurt and then sat down at the dining room table to do their homework. Carl hovered around in the doorway looking awkward until James saw him, smiled and said, 'Hi, Dad. What's with you – ants in your pants?'

Carl gave a non-committal shrug and said, 'No Isabel today?'

'She had to go straight home,' said James, 'but we're going out later. Just me and her, I mean.'

'Oh,' said Carl. 'Well, that's great... isn't it?'

'Of course,' James grinned. 'Why wouldn't it be?'

'I don't know.'

'Dad, what's going on? Why are you being weird?'

'I guess because I'm _feeling_ weird,' said Carl. 'It's my last day on the force tomorrow. That's a sobering thought, son.'

James smiled broadly, got up from the table and went to give his father a hug. Carl's face melted into a rather wobbly smile, and he patted his son on the back.

'That okay?' he asked. 'No mice in there?'

'Not right now, Dad,' said James. 'Hey, wanna know what I'm doing? It's a paper on the psychological profiling of serial killers.'

'Well, that's great,' said Carl, beaming. Then he looked at Conchita. 'How about you, honey? Same thing?'

'No,' said Conchita. 'Mine's about Stockholm syndrome. I'm debating whether the recent changes to the theory are just an attempt to make ideas about victims fit in better with popular thinking, or there's actually something in it.'

James made a face at Carl and said, 'She always was smarter than me. I'm just writing up the basics about victim selection and body disposal and stuff.'

'I'm sure it's great, son,' said Carl.

'I'd better get on with it,' said James, going back to the dining table. 'I want to be ready for my date later.'

'So it's an actual date, huh?' said Carl.

'Yep,' said James.

'I'll leave you to it, then,' said Carl, and mooched out of the room.

A few minutes after he had gone, Conchita said, 'I'm going to the bathroom, Jim.' Then she left the table and went upstairs, where Carl was just coming out of the bathroom himself.

'Hi, Chita,' he said, surprised. 'You okay?'

'Yes,' said Conchita. 'Are _you_? Jim was right – you were acting really weird in there.'

'Well,' said Carl, 'I'm not the only one. I... wanted to ask you about it, actually. By yourself.'

'Yeah?' said Conchita. 'Who else is acting weird?'

'Isabel yesterday,' said Carl, 'and your dad this morning. And when I thought about it, I realised you and Beth were acting kind of weird yesterday, and it always seems to start when the conversation turns to Isabel.'

Conchita raised an eyebrow. 'You talked to Isabel _about_ Isabel? What on earth did you say?'

'Nothing much,' said Carl. 'She just mentioned something about when Jamie was a little kid, and I said something about them exchanging life stories, and then she went really weird.'

'Oh, I see,' said Conchita. 'Well, maybe she realised something.'

'She did!' said Carl, astonished. 'That's exactly what she said: that she "realised something"! How did you know that?'

'Because I realised the same thing myself yesterday,' said Conchita. 'Probably so did Beth, and probably so did my dad. You don't know, do you? This significant thing about Isabel? Well... what we all think _you'd _call significant, I mean.'

'I don't guess I do,' said Carl. 'I wish someone would tell me.'

'I think we're all scared to,' said Conchita. 'I don't have any first-hand evidence of this, Uncle Carl, but I got the impression Beth didn't think you'd react very well, and I wasn't there when you talked to Dad but I can imagine he feels the same way.'

'Okay, Chita, you're scaring me now,' said Carl. 'Please just tell me.'

'All right, I will,' said Conchita. 'See, the thing is, Isabel's trans.'

'Trans?' said Carl, his brow furrowing in confusion.

'Yes,' said Conchita. 'She's transgender.'

'So,' said Carl, 'you mean... you mean... she's a _boy_?'

Conchita frowned slightly. 'No. I mean she was born male, but she identifies as female.'

'So,' said Carl, 'I... he... she... I mean...'

'It bothers you, doesn't it?' Conchita said resignedly.

'Yes, no, I mean... I didn't think bisexuals went for that kind of thing... _person_, I mean!'

'They don't,' said Conchita. 'James isn't bisexual.'

Carl stared at her. 'What do you mean James isn't bisexual?'

'He's _pan_sexual.'

Carl's stare became even more baffled. 'Pan? Sexual?'

'It means he's attracted to people of all genders.'

'_All_ genders?'

'Look,' Conchita said, with a barely concealed sigh, 'I really need to get back to my assignment. Will you be okay?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said Carl. 'Pan... sexual. This is all new to me.'

'What about transgender?'

'Well... no, not really. People have been getting sex changes for a long time – just not when they were kids. Surely kids are too young to know.'

'Nobody knows anything about it except the individual person,' said Conchita.

'Yes, well,' said Carl, 'I think I _kind of _get it. It's because he grew up liking ponies and mermaids instead of guns and mice, isn't it?'

'Well... I don't think it's as simple as that. And you have to call Isabel "she" and "her", Uncle Carl, otherwise it's transphobic bullying.'

'Oh, I see. But, um... _she_ hasn't had the surgery yet, right?'

'You're really not supposed to ask about that kind of thing,' said Conchita. 'And y'know, she might not ever _want _to have surgery. But whether she does or she doesn't is her business, Uncle Carl.'

'But,' Carl boggled, 'but if he... but if she...'

'Not everybody wants to have surgery.'

Carl just stood there, lost for words.

'Look, Uncle Carl,' Conchita went on, 'I don't think I'm really the best person to explain it because I don't understand everything myself. I can get you some information, though – there are some really good educational websites about it. I don't want to do it here because... well, I don't think James should know. But I can print something for you at school tomorrow.'

'At school?' said Carl, frowning. 'I thought all that kind of thing was blocked at school.'

'_What_ kind of thing?' asked Conchita.

'Well... you know...' He blushed furiously and whispered, '_Sex..._ and stuff.'

Conchita laughed. 'Well they block actual _porn_, Uncle Carl, but this stuff is educational. It even helps some people to stop feeling suicidal.'

'Well,' said Carl, 'I wouldn't want Isabel feeling suicidal.'

'I'm glad to hear it,' said Conchita, just as the front door clicked opened downstairs. When she heard it, she seemed to forget the entire conversation, saying eagerly, 'Ooh, Daddy's back!'

On hearing this, Rose appeared from inside the spare room and both girls went scurrying down the stairs.

'You've been hours,' said Rose, meeting Eduardo in the hallway and taking no notice at all of Egon coming in behind him. 'What's been going on?'

'Did you think we'd be quicker?' asked Eduardo. 'I'm sorry, _bebita_. Are you okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine,' said Rose. 'I guess I don't know _how_ long I thought you'd be. Hi, Egon.'

'Hello, Rose,' said Egon, then he nodded to her sister behind her. 'Conchita. Rose, how are you feeling?'

Rose shrugged. 'I'unno.'

'I see,' said Egon. 'Well, the good news is, we figured out what it was that the team trapped in your house yesterday. Or perhaps that's not exactly _good_ news, if it doesn't make a difference to you.'

'I won't know if it does or it doesn't unless you tell me,' said Rose.

'What an excellent point,' said Egon. 'We found and trapped a further two entities in your home, almost identical to the first one but in different stages of development. None of them is the entity that took control of your body on at least two occasions, but it _is_ closely related – quite literally, in fact, as the original entity is their progenitor.'

Rose looked at Eduardo. 'You speak Egonics – what's he saying?'

'He's saying that whatever was possessing you last night is having babies,' said Eduardo. 'We found two more in the house today. They were octopus-looking things, like the last one, but they were smaller. One was only a little smaller, and one was a _lot _smaller.'

'Yeah?' said Rose. 'So, when did they show up? Today?' she added hopefully. 'Maybe getting me out of the house really worked.'

'It's possible,' said Egon, 'but then where is the parent entity?'

Rose's face fell. Conchita took a step forward and put her arm around her sister, saying, 'But you're gonna find it, right?'

'We're going to try, Chita,' said Egon.

'And if we fail, I guess that'll mean it's not bothering _us_ anymore,' Eduardo added.

'Well,' said Egon, 'that's one way of looking at it. We thought you two girls had better spend the night here as planned. Your father will spend the night in your house with Josh and Freya and me.'

'Kinky,' said Rose.

'We'll be monitoring the house for paranormal activity,' Egon went on. 'I understand you two are sharing a room, so you can monitor yourselves and each other.'

'You mean,' said Conchita, 'if Rose starts glowing again I call Dad?'

'Essentially, yes,' said Egon. 'Come to think of it, we could issue Kevin with some equipment and have him on alert, if it would make you feel better.'

'I don't know if it would,' said Rose. 'He hasn't done any ghostbusting since I was a baby.'

'He was good at it, though,' said Eduardo, 'and he can be here much sooner than the rest of us.'

'So what's he gonna do – blast me with a proton beam? That didn't work when Chita did it.'

'That's a fair point,' said Egon. 'At this stage, the most useful thing would be for us to get a good look at you, and a PKE reading, when the entity is at the height of its activity. It's possible that it has become very deep-rooted within you, and your body is protecting it from our weapons. There may even be a chance that it has attached itself to you symbiotically.'

'Symbiotically?' said Rose, frowning. 'That means if you take it out, I'll die.'

'If we attempt to remove it without knowing exactly what we're dealing with, possibly,' said Egon. 'But we would never do that.'

'Egon,' said Eduardo, 'I don't like this conversation. I don't think Rose does either.'

'That's just a worst case scenario,' said Egon, 'and even if it does turn out to be what we're facing, we'll find a way to deal with it – don't you worry. After all, if the worst really comes to the worst...'

'What?' Rose asked sharply.

'He means we could try an experimental treatment,' said Eduardo, with a frown. 'Look, Egon, I don't think anyone really wants their kid to be the first human subject for something like that.'

'What is it?' Rose demanded. 'This is _my_ problem – I should be the one to decide what happens!'

'You're a minor,' said Eduardo. 'I wouldn't test it on _anyone's_ kid.'

'Why, because you're afraid of a federal lawsuit if something happens to me?'

'No, Rosy, that's not why I'm afraid of something happening to you.'

'Now, hold on, both of you,' said Egon. 'We don't even know if you still _have_ a problem, Rose, and if you have, we might not have too much trouble dealing with it. Let's wait and see what happens tonight, shall we?'

'Fine,' said Rose. 'Will you take a PKE reading from me right now? I want to know if anything's changed since this morning.'

'All right,' said Egon, taking out his PKE meter.

'I'll call Kylie and tell her what we know,' said Eduardo. 'I'll see if I can get through to Kevin as well – _I'd_ feel better if he was on standby, anyway.'

'I'll get back to my research paper,' said Conchita, 'if nobody minds.'

'Of course not, Chita,' said Egon, as Eduardo mooched out of the front door dialling his cell phone. 'I'm sure it's very good, if it's anything like your mother's work used to be.'

'It's at least a school year behind what she used to give you,' said Conchita, 'but hopefully it's okay.'

'I'm sure Mrs Hughes has her smiley face stamp poised and at the ready even now, Chita,' said Rose. 'Now go get on with it – I want my PKE reading done in private.'

'You do?' said Conchita. 'Why?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said Rose.

Conchita gave her a hurt and worried look, and then mooched off.

'I _do_ know why,' Rose said confidentially to Egon, when she judged her sister to be out of earshot. 'It's because I find it unnerving, the way they fuss around me.'

'People often feel that way,' said Egon, as he took his reading. 'Well, you're still giving off a signal.'

'A strong one or a weak one?'

'Somewhere in the middle.'

'So what does that mean?'

'It means that I expect you'll continue to need our help for the time being,' said Egon. 'But please try not to worry. It would be foolish for us to abandon our surveillance on your own home, but I wonder, would you like one or two of the current Ghostbusters here with you tonight?'

'No thanks, Egon,' said Rose. 'I'd rather go to sleep not feeling like a victim.'

* * *

Late that evening, James let himself into the house as the sky was getting dark, went through to the kitchen and began poking around in the fridge. Meanwhile, in the living room, Beth was placing pillows and blankets on the sofa with Kylie hovering nearby.

'You don't have to go to so much trouble, Beth,' Kylie said. 'I can plump up the pillows myself, at least.'

'Oh, don't be silly,' said Beth. 'You're a guest in my house. I'm just sorry we don't have another bed for you. All those rooms upstairs, full of boxes and cobwebs – I feel terrible about letting them get like that. Some people are homeless!'

At this point James wandered in, sucking up a Go-Gurt through a huge grin, so Kylie smiled at him and said, 'Hey, Jim. Good date?'

'A gentleman never tells,' said James.

'I think you'll find they do, hon,' said Beth. 'It's ladies that never tell.'

'Mom!' said James, rolling his eyes. 'You shouldn't make generalisations like that.'

'Oh, really?' said Beth. 'Well, _you_ shouldn't be staying out past nine thirty on a school night.'

'Sorry, Mom.' He flashed her a winning smile. 'I guess I was just caught up in the moment.'

There came the sound of someone clattering down the stairs, then Conchita appeared in the doorway, brushing her hair and wearing a leggy nightshirt.

'How did it go?' she asked eagerly.

'Ah,' said James, 'a gentleman never tells.'

'Some of them do,' said Conchita. 'You shouldn't make generalisations like that.'

'Smart-ass,' said James, as they began walking from the room together.

'I'll find out anyway,' Conchita went on. 'I'll ask Isabel.'

'She won't tell you either,' said James, his voice fading as they ascended the stairs. 'It's private.'

'What you might not know about my friendship with Isabel...' Conchita said, and this was the last thing their mothers heard.

Kylie turned to Beth, wrinkled her nose and said, 'Things _have_ changed, haven't they?'

Beth laughed. 'What's that face for? I thought you were a live-and-let-live kind of person, Kylie.'

'I am,' said Kylie. 'I'm just saying, things have changed. And the face is for the passage of time, that's all. Those two are almost eighteen, you know.'

'Yes, I know,' Beth sighed wistfully, as she gave the blanket one last smooth with her hands. 'There! Is there anything else you need?'

'Just this,' said Kylie, picking up a proton pistol from the coffee table and clipping it to her waist.

Beth stared at it. 'You're going to _sleep_ in that?'

'I've done it before.'

'Aren't you afraid you'll move in the night or something and set it off?'

'No,' Kylie grinned at her. 'It's not _my _house.'

* * *

Up in the apartment, Merida had finally come out of her cat carrier and was sleeping curled up next to a proton pack, ghost trap and PKE meter that had been stowed under the table. Oscar turned from the computer as Kevin came out of the bathroom wearing no shirt and sweatpants.

'I just emailed Emilia to let her know that one of her eggs has been successfully utilised,' said Oscar.

'Emailed, huh?' Kevin said with a grin. 'How old-fashioned of you!'

'That's two great contributions Emi has made to my life,' said Oscar. 'The first one being when she told me that schoolyard rhyme about falling in a lake and swallowing a snake.'

Kevin laughed and came over to ruffle Oscar's hair.

'So I guess that's everyone in the know who needs to be in the know for now,' said Kevin. 'Except for my parents and Jimmy, of course.'

'Did you decide how you want to handle that?'

'I want to tell my mom, then she can tell my dad.'

'You really wouldn't feel comfortable talking to him about it, huh?' said Oscar.

'I don't know,' said Kevin, shrugging. 'I just feel like I want to tell my mom by herself, that's all. Plus I also want to talk to her about the house-moving situation, and I'd rather do that without my dad around.'

'I guess they'll just have to advertise for a new tenant again, after fifteen years of _not_ having to advertise for a new tenant.'

'Yeah... yeah, I guess so.'

'We need to move out of here sooner rather than later, don't we?' Oscar said, somewhat wistfully.

'We sure do,' said Kevin.

'You know, when I first saw this place – the same day I met you – I was kinda rude about it to Eduardo,' said Oscar. 'I said you couldn't have more than one person living here; little did I realise that it could be an absolutely wonderful home for _two_ people, if they were two people who... well, you know.'

'Yeah, I do know,' said Kevin. 'But much as I love this place – and I love it a whole lot, for so many reasons – it really is too small for _three _people, even if one of them _is _a baby.'

'And babies don't stay babies for long anyway,' said Oscar.

'That's certainly true,' said Kevin. 'It seems like just yesterday that my mom was telling me she was pregnant with Jimmy, and now... wow, did you just get a twinge of apprehension about this whole thing? _I_ sure did.'

'Maybe a little one,' Oscar said with a smile, 'but I know it's all going to be fantastic! I'm sure gonna miss this place, though. I mean, it's really been _our_ place, hasn't it?'

'Yeah, it has,' said Kevin. 'But then, if you stop and think about it, _our_ place is wherever _we_ are.'

Oscar smiled, rose to his feet and gathered Kevin into a close embrace. They stood holding each other for a few moments.

'I'll talk to my mom tomorrow,' Kevin said at length. 'Like you said, we need to get the wheels turning on this move.'

'What about James?' said Oscar. 'Are you gonna tell him about the baby yourself, or will you get your mom to do it?'

'I really _want_ to tell James myself,' said Kevin, 'but I guess it might spare my dad's feelings a little if I ask my mom to pass the news on to _both_ of them, instead of just him. It might spare Jimmy's feelings too, come to think of it – if I sat him down and had that conversation with him, it'd be bound to come out that I wasn't planning on having a similar conversation with Dad, and Jimmy would certainly wonder why not. I don't want to risk opening that can of worms and...'

'Shattering Jimmy's illusions?' Oscar suggested.

'Imposing my own feelings on his unique world view,' said Kevin.

Oscar nodded, then he tightened his grip on Kevin's body. Kevin tightened his own grip in response, and let his head drop onto Oscar's shoulder.

'It'll really make your mom's day when you tell her about the baby,' said Oscar. 'And James's, when she tells him.'

'Yeah,' said Kevin. 'It'll make _their_ days, for sure...'


	4. Chapter 4

Around two o'clock in the morning, Conchita was woken from a fitful sleep by a light in her eyes and a generally unnerving atmosphere. She sat up in bed and looked down at where her sister was sleeping beside her. Rose had not woken up, but was emitting a faint glow all over her body. Conchita then looked up and saw a small floating light with tendrils, just like the one that had been trapped in her own home the day before.

'Oh no,' she said, climbing over Rose and out of bed. Then she went to the stairs and called, 'Mom, it's happening again!'

When Conchita went back to the bedroom, Rose was waking and looking down at herself with fear in her eyes.

'It's okay,' said Conchita, climbing over her again and finding her cell phone. 'I'm texting Kevin and calling Dad.'

'Looks like it had another baby,' said Rose, her eyes following the floating octopus of light, just as Kylie burst into the bedroom with her proton gun cocked. 'Mom – quick, catch it, catch it!'

Kylie ducked as the thing flew over her and through the door, then turned and caught it in a proton stream. While she was holding it, Carl, Beth and James all appeared on the landing, barely awake, and held their hands up against the brilliant light that assaulted their eyes. Moments later, Kevin came running into the house with a proton pack and a trap.

'Ooh, Kevin, open the trap for me!' Kylie shouted over the noise. Kevin did so, and the entity was soon incarcerated.

'Hey, bro, great timing!' said James, going over to his brother and high-fiving him.

'Is this all it's doing?' asked Rose, appearing in the open doorway of the spare bedroom. 'Having babies?'

'I don't know, sweetie,' said Kylie. 'That's just one of _my_ many questions. I'm also wondering how long that one has been here. When your dad and the others were at home earlier, they found two more, didn't they? But _you_ weren't there. Maybe they'd been cooking for a while, and so's this one been, _and_ the one that we all saw trapped. By all indication, the demon creates them quietly at some stage without anyone really noticing.'

'Does that make a difference to anything?' asked Rose.

'Probably not right now,' said Kylie, 'but it's something to bear in mind. We might also need to figure out why the demon becomes so active at times, if it's not having the babies when it does.'

'Egon said he wanted to take a PKE reading when the demon was being active,' said Rose, 'but maybe it's too late now. Oh, I _should_ have told him I wanted a couple of Ghostbusters here...'

As she became more agitated, Kevin became aware that the PKE meter attached to his clothing was beginning to buzz excitedly. He took a cautious step towards Rose.

'Why didn't Egon _insist _on sleeping here?' she went on. 'I bet he _knew_ I still had something in me!'

'It'll be okay, sweetie,' said Kylie. 'Calm down. Kevin's taking a PKE reading right now.'

'Kevin hasn't done this job in _years_!' said Rose, and as she reached the end of her sentence her voice became a roar, while a brilliant white light emanated from her eyes and open mouth.

Carl, Beth and James, who were still hovering around, stared in blank amazement. Kevin took his PKE meter in his hand and went a step closer. Conchita put her hand on Rose's shoulder and said, 'It's okay, Rosy. We're all here to help you.'

As she spoke, Rose's light began to dim. Kevin and Kylie exchanged looks.

'Was that emotional support weakening it?' asked Kevin.

'Looked like it,' said Kylie, 'but I guess it's not conclusive – that whole thing barely lasted a minute.'

'But she got better the first time when you and Dad were giving her tea and cuddles,' said Conchita. 'Maybe this really _is_ the answer!'

'So, what,' said Rose, 'you're going to cuddle me until the demon goes away?'

'Maybe I am,' Conchita said stoutly.

At this Rose smiled, and reached behind her to squeeze her sister's hand. Just then the front door opened and into the hallway came Eduardo, Egon, Josh and Freya. Kevin went to the top of the stairs and called down, 'We're all up here, guys.'

'Wow, this sure is a lot of people,' said Carl, as the four new arrivals trooped up the stairs.

'What can we do?' asked Josh.

'Know what _I_ think you guys need to do?' said Kylie. 'I think you need to look for more of those babies. Meanwhile, Kevin and I can talk to Egon and Eduardo about what we think we know.'

'Oh, wait,' said Conchita, 'let's introduce everybody first – they don't all know each other. You guys,' turning to the two young Ghostbusters, 'you already met Beth... kind of... and this is my uncle Carl, and my cousins Kevin and James. Everyone, this is Freya and Josh.'

'Hello again,' Beth smiled warmly.

'Hi!' said James, grinning boyishly at the sight of two fit young people standing on his landing.

'Hi,' said Freya. 'So, more babies, is it? Where should we look?'

'In here, I guess,' said Rose, stepping to one side and indicating the spare room. 'I was sleeping in there just now, and I spent most of the day in there too, reading _The Hunger Games_.'

'Good choice,' said Freya, giving her a reassuring smile as she made her way into the room.

'Let's go down to the living room to talk,' said Kevin, leading the way towards the stairs, followed by Kylie, Eduardo, Egon and Rose.

Beth seemed unsure of whether to follow them. Sensing this, Rose turned on the second step down and said, 'You come too, Aunty Beth.'

Beth smiled, nodded and followed.

Meanwhile James, Conchita and Josh had all gravitated towards one another. Josh was boggling at Conchita in her night attire, while she was saying in giggles to James, 'Jim, this is Josh. His name's Josh.'

'Yeah, you already told us,' said James, smiling at her in amusement.

Carl had also been left on the landing, and for some seconds he watched this scene with growing disapproval. Then suddenly he strode towards Josh, bulldozing him away from Conchita with his mere presence and saying, 'Don't you have a job to do?'

'Er, yeah, I guess I do,' Josh said timidly.

'Then get to it!' said Carl. 'I didn't let you come into my house just so you could ogle my niece!'

Conchita frowned and was about to object, when suddenly Eduardo appeared at the top of the stairs, saying, 'Carlos, please don't get like that now.'

'This joker is _your_ employee, Eddie,' said Carl, almost in a growl, still glaring at Josh. 'Why don't you tell him to do his God-damn job, huh?'

'I will,' said Eduardo. 'Josh, do your God-damn job, please.'

'Okay,' said Josh, and slunk into the spare room.

'Carl,' said Eduardo, 'would you mind not intimidating _my_ employees, please?'

'If he's going to behave like that in my house...' Carl mumbled.

'I'm going downstairs now,' said Eduardo. 'Why don't you three go back to bed? You've got work and school in the morning. _Querida_, maybe you could bunk with Jim so you won't have to wait for Josh and Freya to finish.'

'Sounds like fun, Chita,' James grinned at her.

'What about Rosy?' asked Conchita.

'Your mom could go in with her,' said Eduardo.

'Oh yeah,' said Conchita. 'That's a good idea,' and she went into James's room with him. Eduardo stood looking at Carl until he went into his own room, then made his way back downstairs.

When Eduardo arrived in the living room, Rose was sitting on the sofa between Kylie and Beth; Kevin was standing a respectful distance away, and all of them were listening to Egon.

'We have evidence that the entity's activity has some link to your emotional state,' he was saying to Rose. 'This, coupled with the other information I have, leads me to believe that it's a parasitic demon displaying some similar behaviours to a poltergeist, specifically disturbing households and attaching itself to a teenage girl, the one discernible difference being that it displays reproductive behaviour.'

'Like Achira, right?' Kylie suggested. Then she looked at Rose. 'Remember, sweetie, when I told you about our first case?'

'Yes, I remember,' said Rose. 'Egon, how come these things look like the wisps in _Brave_?'

'Wisps?' said Egon, and looked accusingly at Eduardo. 'You didn't tell me they looked like wisps!'

'I didn't think of it,' said Eduardo. '_Brave_ isn't on our TV as often as it used to be.'

'There are countless legends all over the world about will-o'-the-wisps,' said Egon. 'Perhaps your demon is related, Rose. Almost all folklore treats wisps as malevolent, and there have even been some comparisons to poltergeist behaviour. I wonder... could this be their way of reproducing?'

'So what are you saying, Egon?' Rose asked wearily. 'This thing, whether it's a wisp or not, has decided to move into my body and it has a baby whenever I feel bad?'

'More or less,' said Egon, 'although, as your mother was saying, we can't really know _when_ the process of reproduction is taking place.'

'But I _don't_ feel bad,' said Rose. 'I've been feeling fine. I mean, I was until this thing got into me.'

'If that's true...' Egon began.

'It is,' Rose said sharply.

'I'm sorry, Rose,' said Egon. 'I didn't mean to doubt your word. I'm just trying to say that if you really do feel happy and secure in yourself, you might be able to free yourself of the demon. But let's be aware, something _did _allow it to connect with you in the first place.'

'Well I don't know what that was!' Rose snapped. 'Listen, Egon, I want to know about this experimental cure you were talking about earlier.'

'Experimental?' said Kylie. 'Oh, I don't like the sound of that!'

'What is it?' Rose persisted.

'It's a serum, _queridita_,' said Eduardo. 'John and Sarah have been developing it. The idea is that when an entity is deep-rooted inside somebody, we – well, John or Sarah – will inject this stuff into the blood stream and it drives that entity out, just like a proton beam would do if it could get there. Now, you know how much we all trust John and Sarah, but so far they've only experimented on lab mice. Don't tell your sister,' he added, and they exchanged a small smile.

'Are the mice all right?' asked Rose.

'Yes,' said Eduardo, 'but that's no guarantee it'll work on humans. For one thing, this demon that's with you has some kind of emotional basis – we're pretty sure about that, right?' He looked at Egon, who nodded. 'That wasn't the case with the mice... I assume.'

'But they didn't suffer any ill-effects, right?' said Rose. 'So even if it didn't get rid of the demon, I'd be no worse off than I am now.'

'Maybe you would,' said Eduardo. 'We don't know.'

'I don't want to risk it, baby,' Kylie added.

'Well _what_, then?' said Rose, flaring up suddenly. 'I can't use the talking cure because I don't know why it chose me in the first place! I've been feeling perfectly all right!'

'It doesn't have to be a big thing, Rose,' Egon said gently. 'You _are_ going through some changes, or you're about to. Your sister going to college, for instance – I'm sure a lot of younger siblings find that unsettling. I daresay everyone who's growing up has _some _negative emotion of the kind this demon could latch onto, even if they're not consciously aware of it.'

'Growing up?' said Rose, and turned a scowling face onto her father. 'You told him I started my period, didn't you!'

'You did?' said Beth, and suddenly her eyes filled with tears. 'Oh, my beautiful niece!'

'Actually,' said Egon, 'I didn't know that.'

'Oh,' said Rose, and she stared sulkily into her lap.

'But I'm glad you mentioned it,' Egon went on. 'It very well might be a factor, either physiologically or emotionally or both. I hear it's a stressful time in a young woman's life.'

'It is,' Kylie and Beth said together.

'Well then, point proven,' said Egon. 'Maybe you _can_ fight the demon, Rose, now that you have some idea what you're up against.'

'All right, I'll try,' said Rose. 'But I don't want to be cuddled to death by my sister, or anything like that. I'll try other things, like... I want to go to school tomorrow.'

'You _want_ to go to school?' said Kylie. 'Oh my God – it's taken over her mind!'

'No it hasn't,' Rose said irritably. 'It's just that I spent all day yesterday moping around here, and it sounds like it'd be more productive to try getting on with things.'

'I think that's exactly the attitude you need,' said Egon, noticing that Josh and Freya were now hovering tentatively in the doorway. 'Hello, you two. Did you find anything?'

'Yes,' said Josh. 'The tiniest little baby demons were nesting in the bed. Three of them.'

'We just held the trap open over it, and in they all went,' said Freya, holding up a full ghost trap to prove it. 'What even is the point of them, anyway?'

'We can only assume they grow up to become what their parent is now,' said Egon, 'in which case, it's a very good thing that we're trapping them before they reach full maturity. I don't know whether they pose much of a threat as they are, but it's possible, and they'd certainly grow if left unchecked.'

'How many more are there going to _be_, anyway?' Rose demanded.

'Goodness knows,' said Egon. 'We have a few empty traps in the car which we'll leave here.'

'I'll get them,' said Freya.

'I'll help,' said Josh, and they went.

'I'd probably better get back to bed,' said Rose, 'as I'm getting up for school tomorrow.'

'Chita went in with Jim while Josh and Freya were in the spare room,' Eduardo told her. 'Maybe your mom could take her place.'

'That's not necessary,' said Rose.

'Oh, baby, I'd like to,' said Kylie. 'It'd make me feel better.'

'Then I could sleep on the couch,' Eduardo added. 'That'd be better than going home to an empty house.'

'You go in the spare with Mom, then,' said Rose, 'and _I'll_ sleep on the couch.'

Eduardo and Kylie exchanged a look, then Kylie said, 'If you're absolutely sure that's what you want, I guess we'd better let you.'

'Gee, thanks,' Rose said dryly, crawling under the blanket on the couch as Kylie and Beth vacated it.

Eduardo went to the front door and met Josh and Freya carrying three ghost traps between them. He took two of them, and Kevin appeared in the living room doorway saying, 'Let's leave that other one down here with Rose. She can use it, can't she?'

'Of course she can!' Rose's voice came peevishly from behind him.

'That's settled, then,' said Kevin, taking the final trap from Josh and carrying it through to the living room. He returned seconds later, closing the door behind him.

After that, there were some moments of people trying to get around each other in the hallway until eventually Egon, Josh and Freya managed to leave, while Kylie and Beth made their way upstairs. Kevin had one foot in the front doorway when Eduardo said, 'Thanks for your help, Kev.'

'I didn't do much,' said Kevin. 'I didn't even join in the talk in there – I just didn't know what to say.'

'But you were there, and you agreed to be on call all night. You could've just stayed asleep up in your place if you'd wanted.'

'Like I'd do that!'

'Well, I'm grateful anyway. How's Merida? Gotten out of her carrier yet?'

'Yeah, she actually seems pretty happy. Oh,' as Carl suddenly appeared on the stairs. 'Hi, Dad.'

'Hi, son,' said Carl.

'So,' said Kevin, 'it's your last day on the force tomorrow, huh? That must feel pretty weird.'

'It shouldn't,' said Carl. 'Those kids with psych degrees keep telling me that captains are supposed to retire when they're much younger than I am now.'

'What time are you leaving?' Kevin asked eagerly.

'Um... around eight thirty, I guess,' said Carl, frowning slightly. 'Why do you want to know that?'

'Well,' said Kevin, 'because... I could wave you off, couldn't I?'

'Really?' said Carl, his face brightening. 'You want to wave me off because it's my last day on the force? That's... that's really nice, Kevin.'

'Er, yeah,' Kevin said awkwardly. 'So I'll see you tomorrow, then. G'night, Dad... Uncle Eduardo.'

''Night, Kev,' said Eduardo, watching Kevin until he closed the front door behind him. Then he turned and saw that Carl was still on the stairs. 'You okay there, Carl?'

'I don't know,' said Carl. 'Conchita told me...' He stopped, looked cautiously over his shoulder and then finished in a low voice, 'She told me about Isabel.'

'Oh, she did, huh?' said Eduardo. 'Well, that's a relief. Y'know, we all thought you knew.'

'How was I supposed to know? He... she's very convincing.'

'Er, yeah, I guess. So... are you okay with it?'

'Of course I am!' Carl said defensively.

'Well,' said Eduardo, looking longingly at the staircase behind Carl's massive bulk. 'Good.'

'So listen,' Carl went on, 'that blonde you brought here with you tonight... she's a real girl, right?'

'Are you asking me if Freya's cisgender?'

'No, I'm asking you if she's normal.'

Eduardo opened his mouth to reply, held it for a second, then said carefully, 'Well, she's normal in the way that you mean, so... yeah.'

'I thought Jamie seemed kind of taken with her,' said Carl. 'What did _you_ think?'

'I wasn't really paying attention,' said Eduardo. 'I guess, maybe, but I'm sure he's not planning on doing anything about it – he's no whore. Or maybe it was Josh he was taken with.'

'Josh!' Carl spat, his expression suddenly darkening. 'He's out of my house now, right?'

'No, actually, he decided to camp out in the bathtub,' said Eduardo.

Carl frowned at him. 'This is no joking matter.'

'_What_ isn't?' Eduardo said wearily. 'Carl, I'd really like to go to sleep now – maybe stop by the bathroom on my way...'

'That can wait. We're talking about your daughter here!'

'We... we are?'

'Of course we are! Didn't it bother you, the way he was looking at her?'

'The same way you wish Freya was looking at James, you mean?'

Carl's frown deepened. He said nothing.

'Okay, okay,' said Eduardo, 'I guess it bothers me a little. I don't know if I trust him, but I trust _her_ not to rush into anything.'

'She's just a kid,' said Carl. 'She has no idea. You should warn him off. Tell him I'll beat him up if he tries anything.'

Eduardo smiled wryly. 'Well, _that'd_ sure stop him. Chita wouldn't like it, though. In fact it'd probably make her hate the both of us. Anyway, Josh might be okay for her – you don't know.'

'You know what else you should do?' Carl persisted. 'Explain to her why she has to put on pants when she's in a situation like that.'

'I can't,' said Eduardo.

'Why the hell not?'

'Because she _doesn't_ have to. Things are different now.'

At this, Carl sighed deeply and said, 'You can say that again.'

* * *

In the living room the next morning, Kevin eyed his mother with a certain amount of apprehension as she dabbed her damp eyes with a very crumpled tissue.

'Oh, Kevin, this is such wonderful news,' Beth said at last. 'I'm going to be a grandma... and think how happy your father will be to find out he's going to be a grandpa!'

'Yeah,' said Kevin, 'I guess he will be.'

'I'm so happy for you and Oscar,' Beth beamed.

'Yeah... yeah, thanks,' said Kevin. 'Look, Mom, you know we're going to have to move out of the apartment, don't you? Real soon, I mean.'

'Oh yes, of course you are,' said Beth. 'But you don't need to worry about that, darling – we'll soon find a new tenant.'

'Yes, you _could_ do that,' said Kevin, 'but I was wondering... well, what if you _didn't_ find a new tenant? What if you sold the place instead?'

'Sold it?'

'Yes... and the garage, and the rest of the house along with it. It seems pretty likely that James will move into some kind of student accommodation in September, and with Dad retiring and not needing to be near the precinct anymore... well, it seems like this might be the perfect time to downsize, doesn't it? I mean, you could move literally anywhere you wanted, couldn't you?'

'Yes, I suppose we could,' said Beth. 'It's an interesting idea, Kevin, and it makes a lot of sense – it's certainly worth giving some serious thought to. But here's an idea that I think is also worth giving some serious thought to. How would it be if we _did_ find a new tenant for the apartment, and we kept the house, and you moved in here with Oscar and the baby?'

'Wow,' said Kevin. 'Mom, that's... that's definitely something to think about. I don't think I'd want to move back into my old room, though – it'd be kinda weird after all this time. Plus it's Jimmy's room now; he'll want to come back and use it from time to time.'

'I was thinking maybe you could take over the top storey,' said Beth. 'We'll get the whole thing redecorated and kitted out. You and Oscar can have one of the bedrooms for yourselves, and we'll turn the other one into a nursery. We'll rip out that defective old shower and put in a corner bathtub with a hand-shower; you'll need that for the baby. Maybe we can even get a kitchenette installed in the big storage closet. It'd be like a home within a home for you all.'

'It's a very attractive idea, Mom,' said Kevin. 'Practically, financially, emotionally... it makes perfect sense on every level. But so does me and Oscar buying our own place. We'll have to discuss this at great length, and you and Dad will have to do the same thing.'

'Yes, we will,' Beth agreed. 'He's mentioned the possibility of downsizing before, actually, but I bet he'd gladly abandon the idea if it meant that you, Oscar and the baby were coming to live with us.'

'You think he would, huh?'

'I really do, yes.'

'We'd better take these ideas to our partners and see what we all think about everything, then,' said Kevin. 'Thanks, Mom.'

'For what?' Beth said with a smile.

'Oh, you know,' said Kevin, grabbing a tissue from the box and dabbing his own eyes. 'Just... just everything.'

Kevin stood up, and Beth came to give him a hug.

* * *

In the school lunch hour, Conchita found herself carrying an armful of books from her high school building to the junior high across the road. She gave these to the librarian with a smile and a few words of explanation, almost left, then thought better of it. Instead she went to the computer suite, sat down at a computer and typed _16riverac _into the username field, followed by her password.

After a minute or two of searching, Conchita found what she wanted and manoeuvred the cursor over the print icon. Then she stopped, leaned back in her chair and looked doubtfully at the printer situated at the end of the librarian's desk. She stayed in indecision for some moments, then Rose walked into the computer suite and Conchita's face lit up.

'Ooh, Rose!' she said. 'Grab what I'm about to print from the printer before Dr Day sees it!'

Rose walked up to her and gave her an odd look. 'Why didn't you bring one of your friends if you wanted to do that? Come to that, why are you in _our_ library in the first place?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said Conchita. 'Just do it, Rosy-Posy – please!'

Rose shrugged and made her way over to the printer on the librarian's desk, while Conchita clicked the print icon. Rose then began to collect the pages that were spewed out, her eyes becoming ever wider as she looked at the reams of information on gender and sexual orientation. Eventually she returned, sniggering, to her sister and handed her the sheaf of papers, saying, '_Now _I understand: you didn't want James or Isabel to see this and wonder why you wanted it. Why _do_ you want it?'

'That's private.'

'You aren't planning on jilling off to it, are you?'

'Rose!' said Conchita, looking around at the other library-users in alarm. 'Do you even really know what that _means_?'

'Don't be stupid,' said Rose, as she went over to the bank of computers on the opposite wall and sat down at one. She then typed in _19riverar_, then her password, and got down to some work.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eduardo and Kylie were back in their own home. Kylie was working at her laptop, but Eduardo was doing no work at all; instead he was hovering around and looking uncertain.

'Eduardo,' Kylie said at length, looking at him over her shoulder. 'What the hell is _with_ you?'

'Me?' said Eduardo. 'Well, I... I'm just wondering whether to tell you something.'

'Well, either do or don't.'

'It's about Rose.'

'What?' said Kylie, instantly on the alert. 'It is? Something that could help, you mean?'

'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'It's something that Freya and I have been keeping a secret since we found that first baby octopus wisp thing in Rose's closet. Thank God Josh didn't see it – that would just be so... argh!'

'See what?' said Kylie. 'Something that was in Rose's closet?'

'Yeah. God knows, I didn't mean to see it. It just kind of... flew out.'

'Well, are you going to tell me what it is?'

'Okay,' said Eduardo. 'It was a magazine. As in, the kind of magazine I used to hide in _my_ closet when I was a kid.'

'Oh... _oh_!' said Kylie. 'You mean... one with girls in it? _Only _girls?'

'Well, I didn't sit down and look through it,' said Eduardo, 'but from what I saw... yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm not worrying about her having it or anything stupid like that. I was just mortified that I saw it – she'd be so embarrassed if she found out! I wondered whether to tell you about it, since I knew, but obviously I wasn't _supposed _to know, so in the end I decided I'd better not say anything, but now after what Egon was saying last night about insecurities and growing up and stuff, I can't help wondering if it's a factor in this whole demon thing. Maybe she's confused or something.'

'Maybe,' said Kylie. 'But we can't exactly go waving her magazine at Egon and demanding to know if it's a factor, can we? Anyway, I think we both know what we _do _have to do: just show her that we're supportive and nobody's judging her, whatever she finds out about herself, and whatever she decides to tell us.'

'Okay,' said Eduardo, 'so... what? I'll go up to her and I'll say, "Rose, _querida_, it's okay to be gay", and she'll say, "Daddy, you bastard, you've been going through my closet".'

Kylie gave him a look. 'Now you're just being silly. Anyway, she _knows_ it's okay to be gay. If it weren't for Conchita, she might wonder if it was okay to be _straight_.'

'So then what did you mean?' Eduardo asked.

'Well,' said Kylie, 'I guess I only meant we have to do what we'd have done anyway. You know: leave her alone unless she wants us, and avoid saying stupid things like... like, "Have you found a nice boy to take you to the prom yet?" or something.'

'You're right: neither of us would ever say that,' said Eduardo. Then he frowned. 'Other people might, though.'

'Hmm... maybe. Y'know, I think Roland's still cherishing hopes of a fairytale romance between Rosy and Adam. Of course, this magazine is no guarantee it can't happen, but... well, I don't guess he'd really try to push a heteronormative agenda with her anyway.'

'I think you're right about that. Carl might be full of boys taking her to the prom and stuff, though. Oh my God – maybe Carlos says stuff like that, and that's why the demon got to her!'

'Sweetie,' said Kylie, 'I don't think it's a good idea to start blaming your brother for this. Remember how you felt when he blamed you for Kevin running off when he was trying to catch that troll?'

'Yeah, I do remember,' said Eduardo. '_Madre de Dios_ – how long ago was _that_?'

'I don't even want to think about it,' said Kylie.

'Okay,' said Eduardo, 'so I won't blame Carl, and I won't say anything stupid to Rose if I can help it. So... what _can_ I do? Y'know, it really kills me that we haven't been able to help her much yet.'

'Me too, babe,' said Kylie, reaching for his hand, which he gave to her. 'But I think between us we've all helped her a little now, haven't we? At any rate, she's gone to school.'

Eduardo laughed dryly and said, 'Maybe you were right about it taking over her mind. She knows school is stupid, just like I always did. _I_ wouldn't have gone.'

'No?' said Kylie. 'Not even if you thought it'd help you?'

'Oh, you know me, Ky,' said Eduardo. 'I'd have probably just shut down and made everything worse. Do you think going to school really _will_ help her?'

'I don't know, sweetie,' Kylie said with a sigh. 'I just don't know.'


	5. Chapter 5

'Well?' said Beth, frowning slightly at her husband across the breakfast bar. 'Don't you have anything to say?'

'So _that's_ why Kevin wanted to wave me off,' Carl said flatly.

'Carl...' said Beth.

'It's... it's a lot to take in, Beth,' said Carl. 'So... so this baby is going to come out of Lucy, right?'

'That's right,' said Beth. 'You should be pretty happy about that, Carl – I seem to remember a period of about four years when you were desperate for Kevin and Lucy to exchange a few bodily fluids!'

'Yes, but not in a test tube!' Carl exclaimed. 'Now just let me get this straight, Beth. Lucy's carrying the baby but it's not hers, right? Biologically, I mean.'

'No; the baby's biological mother is Oscar's half-sister.'

'You mean Jessica?'

'No, the other one – Emilia, his English half-sister.'

'But isn't _her_ brother married to...? Anyway, I thought Oscar didn't get along with his English family.'

'That's not exactly it, Carl,' said Beth. 'He just never really connected with them emotionally. Emilia reached out to him when she was studying in Vermont and... well, things went on from there really.'

'Okay, so this Emilia is the kid's biological mother,' said Carl. 'And Kevin is the kid's biological father, right?'

'Yes, he is,' said Beth.

'It's definitely not Oscar?'

'Just think for a moment about why that's an incredibly stupid question, Carl.'

'Um... oh. Oh, yeah. So it really is our grandkid, then.'

'Carl,' Beth said, a slightly warning tone to her voice, 'Kevin's kid would be our grandkid no matter who its biological parents were.'

'Yes... yes, of course it would,' said Carl.

'Kevin _did_ sit and explain all this to both of us a few months ago,' Beth pointed out.

'I know,' said Carl, 'but I didn't really take any of it in at the time, I have to admit. So Kevin's kid is inside Lucy, and it's technically Oscar's nephew even though he's going to be its other parent... the world's gone completely crazy, Beth!'

'No it hasn't, Carl,' Beth said firmly. 'It's just caught up a little with the beauty of the human soul.'

'My grandkid, coming into the world that way...' said Carl. 'It's... it's not normal, Beth.'

'Your grandkid is going to be just as normal as any other kid!' Beth said hotly.

'Of course it's not going to be normal, it'll have two daddies!' Carl snapped.

'Carl!' Beth exclaimed, sounding utterly horrified. 'I can't believe you just said that!'

Carl looked absolutely mortified. Beth's expression softened slightly.

'Beth, I'm ashamed,' said Carl. 'I didn't mean what I said.'

'You did, Carl,' Beth said quietly. 'On some level, you did. But how do you think Kevin would have felt if he'd heard you say that? And what about Jamie? The bottom would've fallen out of his world, Carl. He's never known who...'

'Who I really am?' Carl finished for her. 'Jamie doesn't know who his dad really is; is that what you're telling me, Beth?'

'Jamie doesn't know who his dad really _was_,' Beth said firmly. 'But he knows who you _are_, Carl, and so do I – you just need to make sure you carry on being that person.'

'Kevin knows who I am,' Carl said darkly. 'Or who I _was_, if that's how you want to put it. Kevin wouldn't have been _surprised_ to hear me say what I said, however else he might've felt about it; I lost him a long time ago, in many ways.'

'No you didn't, Carl,' Beth said, fairly sharply. 'Pull yourself together, for God's sake! Now, what do you think about these house-moving plans?'

'Well, downsizing really seems like the next logical step for us,' said Carl, 'but I can see the merits of your idea.'

'The emotional merits?' Beth suggested.

'_All_ the merits,' said Carl. 'But yes, the emotional ones amongst them. I'm not made of stone, Beth.'

'You don't need to tell me that, Carl,' said Beth.

'Would Kevin really want to live with me again? And what about Oscar?'

'That depends on whether you can persuade them that you want to live with _them_!'

'But I do – of course I do!' said Carl.

'You're in favour of the plan where they move in here with us, then?' said Beth. 'I'm absolutely thrilled if you are, because that's what I really, really want.'

'Yes, I'm in favour of that plan,' said Carl, 'but we'll just have to wait and see what Kevin and Oscar think before we get too excited. This is a decision all four of us have to make, together.'

Beth smiled and nodded, then the front door burst open and the sounds of several people piling into the hallway became clearly audible. Moments later James poked his head through the kitchen door, saying, 'I just let everybody in.'

'Who's everybody, honey?' asked Beth.

'Well,' said James, '_I_ brought Isabel; Chita and Rose and Kylie and Uncle Eduardo are here to wish you a happy retirement, Dad, and those two Ghostbuster people are here to see if Rose... you know... laid any more eggs, or whatever it is.'

'Oh, I see,' said Beth. 'Then I guess you'd better invite the family to come in and see us, and tell Josh and Freya to go ahead and do whatever they need, and you can take Isabel to your room, or do whatever you want with her really.'

Carl looked confused and horrified at this while James wandered off, oblivious. Beth gave her husband a sharp look, then stood up and started making instant coffee.

'Anyone want coffee?' she asked as Kylie, Eduardo, Conchita and Rose filed in. 'And you can help yourselves to snacks, girls – there's Go-Gurt and fruit cups and Sunny Delight in the fridge. You can have that too if you want, Eduardo and Kylie – it's completely up to you. Or would any of you like me to get you something else?'

Everyone took a moment to process all this, then Conchita and Rose went over to the fridge while Kylie said, 'Coffee's great, Beth, thank you.'

'Yeah, me too,' said Eduardo. 'Thanks, Beth. So.' He went over to the breakfast bar and sat down opposite Carl. 'There's no Rivera on the force for a few years now, and the world hasn't come to an end, has it?'

'Not quite,' Carl said heavily. 'Have you gotten that demon out of Rose yet?'

'Not yet,' said Rose, who was now munching on a dark pink fruit cup.

'But we're close,' Conchita added, wiping a dribble of Go-Gurt from her chin as she spoke. 'Rosy's feeling a lot more positive today, aren't you, Rose?'

'I guess I feel okay,' said Rose. 'Do you think Kevin would mind if I went up to see if Merida's still scared of me?'

'I think Kevin would love that, honey,' said Beth.

'Cool,' said Rose. 'He's there now, right? I'll go up after I've finished my fruit cup. Anyway, congrats for getting through your NYPD career in one piece, Uncle Carl.'

'Thank you, Rose,' said Carl.

Conchita sucked up the last of her Go-Gurt and threw away the container, then went over to Carl and gave him a hug. He smiled and patted her awkwardly on the back, just as Josh and Freya came into the room, each wielding a quiet PKE meter.

'Last room in the house, Eduardo,' said Freya, waving her meter around, 'and it's clean.'

'That's great,' said Eduardo, and he grinned at Rose. 'Hear that, Rosy? No more babies. That's got to be a good sign, right?'

'If that means it's loosened its grip on me,' said Rose, 'can't you guys just blast me right now and get rid of it?'

'Hey, maybe we _could_ do that,' said Freya, looking enquiringly at Eduardo.

'Well,' said Eduardo, 'we might try it if we have to, but I think you should go up to Kevin's first.'

'Why?' asked Rose, looking at him suspiciously. 'What have you two been planning?'

'Nothing,' said Eduardo. 'It's just that he's been through the same kind of thing – it might do you some more good to talk to him before we try anything else.'

'Okay,' said Rose, still looking suspicious as she mooched off.

'So,' said Josh, looking at Conchita, 'looks like maybe we're almost done here, huh?'

'I guess so,' said Conchita.

Josh opened his mouth to say more, but there followed only an awkward silence as he looked from Conchita to Eduardo to Carl and back again.

Carl frowned, then said loudly and suddenly, 'So you people are done here and you can go, right? What were you even looking for, anyway?'

'The babies that Rose's demon's been having, Carl,' said Eduardo. 'Didn't you pick that up?'

'You can't expect me to pick up everything!' Carl snapped. 'There's so much going on! What babies – how does _that_ work? Oh my God – has this demon been raping my niece or something?'

'No, sir, it's not like that,' said Josh.

'Not any more than any other possessing entity,' Freya added.

'Are they dangerous, these babies?' asked Beth. 'If you did happen to miss any... which would be completely understandable... would something happen?'

'That's more than we know,' said Freya, 'but Egon has his theory that the babies have limited powers and could do some damage to someone with really strong, really obvious negative emotions. So they'd have to be, like, _really_ upset.'

'Well,' said Beth, 'no one here is _really_ upset. Right, Carl?'

'Right,' said Carl. 'We're all fine here... perfectly happy. I, um... I think I'll go say hi to Jamie.'

He stood up and made for the door, forcing Josh to leap out of his path as he threatened to bulldoze into him. Conchita and Eduardo exchanged anxious looks, then Conchita picked up her school satchel and went running after her uncle.

'Is something going on, Eduardo?' asked Beth, catching their look. 'Something I don't know about, I mean.'

'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'Did you know that Chita told Carl about Isabel?'

'About Isabel?' said Beth. 'You mean... _that_ about Isabel?'

'Yeah,' said Eduardo.

'Wait,' said Kylie. 'You mean Carl didn't know...?'

'I'm afraid so,' said Beth.

'Whoa,' said Kylie. 'How on earth did he miss _that_?'

* * *

Up in Kevin's apartment, Merida was cowering under the desk while Rose stood by the open window in the kitchenette, staring mournfully at the frightened cat. Kevin stood nearby with a sympathetic look on his face.

'I'm sure it'll be over soon,' he said.

'You're just saying that,' said Rose. 'You don't really know. It's so annoying – they could try blasting me again, or they could give me this injection, and they won't do either!'

'Y'know,' said Kevin, 'I'm not sure I like the sound of this injection.'

'_I_ do,' said Rose. 'It sounds like the simplest and most effective way to me. Just a little prick, and then it's over.'

'_Maybe_ just a little prick,' said Kevin, 'or maybe John or Sarah would be stabbing you for ages before they got a vein.'

'I don't think so,' said Rose, holding out both her arms.

'Oh yeah,' said Kevin, looking closely at her inner elbows. 'Wow, I wish all the kids _I_ have to inject had nice prominent veins like that. Anyway, it's not really your veins _or_ the needle I'm worried about – it's this serum of theirs. I know how smart and how careful and how trustworthy John and Sarah both are, but surely this stuff is basically just liquid proton. I don't see how that can be safely injected into the bloodstream.'

'Maybe it's _not_ liquid proton,' said Rose. 'Maybe it's something else. Anyway, their mice are okay.'

'Yeah,' said Kevin, 'for now. But maybe one of them will grow an extra head or something later. _I_ know what's going to happen, Rose. Sarah's been there since my day, and she was always wanting to try out her crazy experiments on herself to prove they worked. Any day now, she's going to inject herself with this serum, and the Ghostbusters will find themselves in some kind of a Mr Hyde situation or something.'

'Fine,' said Rose, 'let her, just as long as they fix me first.'

'They seem to have some idea that you can fix yourself.'

'No one's making a rousing speech to give me warm fuzzies to drive it out, though, are they? I mean, that's how it works, right? That's how my dad helped you get rid of your, um...'

'Lamia,' said Kevin. 'And yeah, it was something like that. Would you like _me_ to try a rousing speech on you?'

Rose laughed a little and said, 'I've _got_ to hear this.'

'Um,' said Kevin. 'Well, I... I don't know what it is that's troubling you.'

'Neither do I! Why can't anybody understand that?'

'But maybe... well, maybe it would give you warm fuzzies if I told you some good news, and you could pass it on to your parents and Conchita. We weren't really planning to tell anybody else yet but, well, you guys _are_ my close family. Emotionally, I mean.'

'Damn right we are,' said Rose, with mock indignation. 'Why would you be planning on not telling us something? What the hell is it? You have to tell me right now!'

'Okay, I will,' said Kevin, a smile spreading across his face. 'Did you hear that Oscar and I were trying to have a baby?'

'Yeah, I think I heard something about that,' said Rose. 'So, wait... are you telling me it worked?'

'Yes!'

'You've got a baby coming? Wow, congratulations – that's great! So where's it coming _from_?'

'From Lucy. You know – my friend Lucy Chan?'

'Well, you couldn't reasonably expect a baby from _my_ friend Lucie Jackson,' said Rose. 'Your Lucy's not the egg donor, though, right? Because that would be such a stupid idea – it'd get _way_ too complicated emotionally.'

'Of course it would,' said Kevin. 'Oscar's English half-sister is the egg donor.'

'Well, that was nice of her,' said Rose. 'Good on Lucy too – she must really love you guys a lot.'

'Yeah, she does.'

'Okay, so since Oscar's half-sister is the biological mother, that must mean _you're_ the biological father, right?'

'Right,' said Kevin.

'Cool,' said Rose, breaking into a grin. 'That means we'll be related by blood.'

Kevin gave her look. 'Does it make a difference?'

'I guess not, really,' said Rose. Then she squinted comically down at her nose and said, 'So, how worried are you that it'll get the Gaspar nose?'

'It doesn't matter _what_ nose it has,' said Kevin, 'and you know it. Anyway,' he added, also squinting downwards, 'it's not _so_ bad, is it?'

Rose shrugged and said, 'No, but if I had the choice, I'd rather have my mom's nose.'

'Yeah, so would I, I guess. _My_ mom's, I mean.'

'_Naturaca_. Does this half-sister person have _her_ mom's nose? That'd be so funny, if your baby had Oscar's stepmother's nose.'

'I, um... I never really noticed. I've only seen her a couple of times.'

'Anyway, you're letting me tell my branch of the family?' said Rose. 'Can I go do it right now?'

'I don't know,' said Kevin. 'I've actually only told my mom so far. She's probably told my dad by now; he's been home all afternoon. I wonder if she's told James yet – he might not know.'

'I hope not,' said Rose. 'If he knows, he'll have told Chita, and _I_ want to tell her.'

'Jimmy wouldn't do that,' said Kevin. 'He knows that's the kind of thing you let _other_ people tell.'

'Yeah, I guess,' said Rose. 'It's just... well, I _do_ get sort of jealous of those two, you know.'

Kevin gave her a smile, half humorous and half sympathetic, and said, 'Why, because they got our moms' noses and we didn't?'

'No,' said Rose, with a little laugh, 'because they're just so damn _close_! If _I'm_ that close with anyone, it's my sister, but she _also_ has him, and okay I _do_ have a wonderful best friend but he lives all the way in Florida, and... well, you know,' she finished with a shrug.

'I understand why you feel that way,' said Kevin. 'You _do_ know Chita's crazy about you, right?'

'Yes,' said Rose, 'I do, and I don't _want_ to feel jealous – I just can't help it! Like, at lunch today, I found her printing some stuff about gender and sexual orientation, and I thought about how I feel like there's too many labels now and there's no_ need_ to categorise people like that. But Chita and James don't think that at all – _either _of them. They see eye-to-eye on _everything_!'

'I can see what you mean,' said Kevin. 'Y'know, it's important to see the world in your own way. I actually agree with you about labels and stuff, Rosy, and I admire how you're one of the few members of the young generation I know who's not growing up with an inbuilt label-maker.'

Rose smiled. 'An inbuilt label-maker?'

'That's right. James has grown up hearing me and Oscar talked about as gay, homosexual, a same-sex couple...'

'Everyone says those things but you, don't they? Listen, don't let them give _your_ kid an inbuilt label-maker, will you? I'll help if you want.'

'Thanks, Rosy,' said Kevin. 'Of course I'll want your help, if it's on offer. Y'know, with Jimmy and Chita being so close, I sort of think of you as _my_ special cousin.'

At this, Rose's already happy face split into a full-on grin. Moments later, it disappeared as she doubled over as if in pain and began to spew white light from her nose and mouth. Kevin strode over to her, clearly alarmed, while Merida spat and yowled from her position underneath the desk.

* * *

Conchita caught up with Carl on the stairs and began rootling around in her school bag, saying, 'I got that information you wanted, Uncle Carl.'

'Did I actually _want_ it?' Carl asked sceptically.

'That I offered to get for you, then. Anyway, you _need_ it, don't you?'

'I don't know... maybe.'

'This explains everything,' Conchita went on, handing over the sheaf of papers. 'Homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, greysexual, transgender, cisgender, non-binary, gender fluid –'

'Gender _fluid_? Honey, I... I don't think I want to know any more about that than I already do.'

'Oh, Uncle Carl. You really need to read that stuff. It'll explain _everything_.'

'Really?'

'Well,' said Conchita, 'probably not. But perhaps it'll help you to feel better.'

'Oh, I feel all right,' Carl said with a sigh. 'I think I'm pretty much used to everything now.'

'So... you're not going to check on Jim and Isabel?'

'Guess I'm not, am I, kid?'

Conchita smiled, then turned and made her way downstairs and towards the kitchen. She had only got as far as the telephone table in the hallway, however, when Josh appeared in front of her and blocked her path. Carl, who had been making his way up the stairs, caught sight of this and set himself up to spy on them over the banister.

'Hey, Josh,' said Conchita. 'Still here?'

'I don't want to leave,' Josh said, with a toothy smile. '_You're _here.'

'Oh, I see,' said Conchita. 'So what are you expecting from me?'

'Nothing. I just like to look at you.'

'Oh. Well, I'll be honest: I like to look at you too. But is that all there is to it?'

'Of course not,' said Josh, reaching out to touch her cheek, but she shrank back from him. At the top of the stairs, Carl got ready to pounce.

'Don't say that unless you mean it,' said Conchita.

'I _do_ mean it.'

'You can't. You don't really know me, and I don't really know you.'

'No, I guess not,' said Josh, withdrawing his hand. 'If a guy wanted to get anywhere with you, he'd just have to be really honest, wouldn't he?'

'I guess so,' Conchita said non-committally.

'All right,' said Josh. 'I think you're really nice, and I'd like to get to know you better. How's that?'

Conchita gave a small shrug of acceptance.

'Can I take you out, then?'

'All right, I'll go out with you,' said Conchita. 'When?'

'How about tomorrow night?'

She smiled. 'Yeah, okay. Where?'

'How about I surprise you?'

'I don't like surprises.'

'You... don't?'

'I want to know where we're going,' said Conchita.

'Um, okay,' said Josh. 'Maybe, um... we could have dinner at that Italian place on the corner of Platt Street and Gold Street?'

'Okay,' said Conchita.

'Can I pick you up at seven?'

'Sure.'

'Do you mind if I pay?'

'No.'

'Okay, so... that's a date, then.'

'Right.'

He grinned all over his face. 'Cool.'

'Okay!' Freya's voice cut across them as she appeared on the scene. 'You about done here, Josh?'

'Yes, Freya,' said Josh, still grinning stupidly at Conchita. Freya put her hands on his shoulders and steered him towards the front door, Conchita stepping aside to clear their path.

When Josh and Freya got out onto the street, they were arrested by Kevin's voice calling frantically from above them, 'Freya! Josh! Quick, catch it, catch it!'

Freya grabbed the ghost trap she was carrying at the same time as looking around for the voice. She saw that Kevin was leaning a long way out of his kitchen window, while floating rapidly away from him was a large mass of white light. Josh grabbed his proton gun and caught the entity in a powerful stream. Freya threw down the trap and opened it. Within moments, the demon was gone.

* * *

Late the next afternoon, Kylie was handing a cheque to a door and window repairer while Eduardo stood on the landing testing the stability of Rose's new bedroom door. He then went downstairs and met Kylie at the bottom.

'It better be okay, because I just paid the guy,' said Kylie.

'Seems fine,' said Eduardo, 'but I'm not a door expert. I guess we can cancel the cheque if it falls off in the night or something.'

'True,' said Kylie, making her way to the living room. Then she stopped in the doorway and a sappy smile crept across her face. 'Just look at our girls, Eduardo. Don't they look sweet?'

Eduardo went to stand behind her and looked over her head at the scene. Conchita was sitting in an armchair, her long legs hitched up for a stand on which to rest her reading materials, looking with her own sappy expression at Rose reunited with Merida. They were on the sofa, Merida purring ecstatically on Rose's lap and enjoying being fondled all over.

'Your new door's all ready for you, _florita_,' said Eduardo.

'I don't think I'll use it tonight,' said Rose, 'in case Merida wants to sleep with me.'

'That was worth it, then,' said Kylie. Then she noticed what her other daughter was reading, and said, 'Chita, is that a college brochure? I think it's a little late for that.'

'No, Mom, it's a little _early_,' said Conchita. 'See, I never really thought about what I was going to do with my psych degree after I got it. I have to admit, I wanted to go to college with Jim, so now I'm going to the one that has _his_ master's programme. Doesn't have mine, though, as it turns out.'

'I hope you're not regretting your decision,' said Kylie.

'Not at all,' said Conchita. 'Going to St John's won't stop me doing my master's at Columbia.'

'She's dying for one of us to ask what this master's actually _is_,' said Rose, as she stroked Merida's throat and chest. 'Don't ask her, you guys.'

'What master's is that, sweetie?' asked Kylie, exchanging a playful look with Rose.

'Clinical psychology,' said Conchita. 'Beth said a few days ago that she thought I'd make a good trauma counsellor, and now I've realised I really like the idea.'

'Oh sweetie, that's perfect for you,' said Kylie.

'Yeah, it is,' said Eduardo. 'Maybe you'd like to work for me.'

'For you?' said Conchita. 'How?'

'You know the list of useful numbers we have in reception?' said Eduardo. 'Well, the trauma counsellor gets called _a lot_, and I've sometimes wondered if we should be hiring one of our own. And maybe by the time you qualify, Egon will've gone and left me alone with the budget.'

'I should think so,' said Rose. 'That's five years away. You might change your mind by then, Chita. You're such a soft-centred soul, you'll probably realise you can't handle other people's pain.'

'Oh, Rose!' Kylie said admonishingly. 'I think she can. I _know_ she can.'

'We'll see,' Conchita said airily. 'I've got four years of undergraduate study first, anyway; _anything_ could happen. I might even change my major – who knows? Right now, though...' She lowered her legs and gathered her books and papers into her arms in one smooth motion. 'I have to start getting ready for my date.'

* * *

While Conchita was getting ready to go out, James and Isabel were just coming in. They crashed through James's front door with their arms around each other, giggling and each clutching a helium balloon bearing their name. Upon hearing them, Carl appeared in the hallway and gaped at them. Isabel began to look uncomfortable, but James smiled and said, 'Hi, Dad.'

'Hi, son,' said Carl. 'Did you have fun at the, um...?' He stared at the helium balloons as though they were alien spacecraft.

'We've been at the mall, Dad,' said James. 'We had a blast.'

'Oh,' said Carl, playing with his shirt collar. 'That's good.'

'Are you okay?' asked James. 'Why are you being weird? _Again_!'

'No, it's nothing,' said Carl. 'I'm just... it's hot in here, isn't it?'

'Is something wrong, Mr Rivera?' Isabel asked tentatively.

'Nothing's wrong, Isabel,' said Carl. 'Everything's perfectly... perfectly normal.'

'No it's not,' James said suspiciously. 'Dad, what's going on?'

'Nothing,' said Carl.

'_Something's_ going on!' James persisted.

'Not really,' said Carl, looking uncomfortably at his son. 'If you really want to know, I just didn't happen to realise that Isabel was, um... well, that she was, er...'

'Someone told you, huh?' said Isabel.

'Told him what?' said James. 'What the hell _is_ this?'

'It's not a big deal, Jem,' said Isabel, looking pained. 'Your dad just didn't know I was trans, that's all.'

'What?' said James, laughing at the absurdity of such an idea. 'Of course he knew!'

'No, Jamie, I didn't,' said Carl. 'That doesn't mean I have a problem with it, of course – it's just that I didn't find out until yesterday. But...' He looked appealingly at Isabel. 'That's the way you want it, right? For people to not notice?'

'I don't really care whether people notice or not,' said Isabel. 'It's just about me feeling comfortable with myself.'

'Hold on a minute,' said James, his voice beginning to harden. 'How could you not know, Dad?'

'It doesn't matter, Jem,' said Isabel.

'Of course it matters, Iz,' said James. 'Dad, you've known Isabel for years! You knew her before she started transitioning!'

Carl stared at him. 'I... I... what?'

Isabel let out a deep sigh and said to Carl, 'Sir, do you remember Billy Maynard?'

'Billy Maynard?' said Carl, unable to see the relevance of this. 'Yes, of course I remember him. He was one of James's elementary school friends.'

'It was me,' said Isabel.

Carl stared blankly at her. '_What_ was you?'

'I mean _he_ was me,' Isabel said patiently. 'I used to be Billy but now I'm Isabel.'

'Wait... _what_?' said Carl, his eyes boggling. 'You were _him_? That was _you_? But... but... you used to like _Beyblade: Metal Fusion_!'

'Yeah, well,' said Isabel, 'so did Chita. So did everyone.'

'But why... but what... but how...?'

'I don't understand!' cried James, attracting the attention of both Carl and Isabel, who saw that tears were now brimming in his eyes. 'Dad, why are you saying such terrible things?'

'They're not terrible, son,' said Carl. 'They're just, well...'

'Ignorant!' said James. 'Bigoted! Insensitive! I don't recognise you, Dad! Where is all of this coming from? I thought you _liked_ Isabel!'

'I _do_!' Carl said desperately, taking a tentative step towards his son. 'I think Isabel's great! I... I hope you get married someday, and somebody grows a baby for you using a donor egg and your sperm, Jamie. Or... or Isabel's, I guess, if she decides to hang onto it.' He looked at Isabel. 'You might do that, right? Because Chita said –'

'What?' said James. '_Chita_ said?'

'Jamie,' said Carl, taking another step forward and putting a hand on James's shoulder. 'I...'

'Don't touch me!' cried James. Then he suddenly turned and fled through the front door, letting go of his balloon, which floated all the way up the stairs and onwards to the ceiling. Carl reached out for James, and would have caught him roughly by the arm if he hadn't stopped himself. James slammed the door behind him, and Carl stood staring at it, mortified.

'So,' said Isabel, still clutching her balloon. '_This_ isn't awkward!'


	6. Chapter 6

The doorbell rang and Conchita descended the stairs wearing a short, sleeveless dress. Eduardo caught sight of her through the kitchen doorway, came into the hallway with a spatula in his hand and said, 'He's not taking you on his motorcycle, is he?'

'I don't know,' said Conchita. 'Does he _have_ a motorcycle?'

'Yes,' said Eduardo, 'and if you get on it like that...'

She giggled. 'You mean if I _fall off_ it like this.'

'Exactly. I want you to take care of yourself, seashell.'

'Well, let's see, shall we?' She bounced over to the door and pulled it open. Then her face fell ever so slightly. 'Oh, hi, it's you. Oh, but... oh my gosh, Jim, what's wrong?'

'You already know, don't you?' said James, in injured tones. 'You know the truth about my dad, and you didn't tell me!'

Eduardo made his way hurriedly to the front door, still clutching his spatula, and said sternly, 'Don't take it out on her, James.'

'Do you know as well?' James demanded.

'I think I can guess,' Eduardo said cautiously. 'Come on in and tell me all about it if you want.'

'Oh, there's Josh,' said Conchita, awkwardly swapping positions on either side of the door with James. 'He's in a car, Dad.'

'_Freya's_ car,' Eduardo noted. 'That was nice of her. Have fun, _querida_. Come on in, Jim.' He shut the door behind his nephew and ushered him into the living room, where Kylie was watching TV.

'I'll take over dinner,' she said, taking in the situation at a glance. She turned off the TV, stood up and took the spatula from Eduardo. 'Shall I make some extra for Jim?'

'I couldn't eat a thing,' James sniffled.

'I'll make some just in case,' said Kylie as she sidled out of the room.

'Okay,' said Eduardo, chivvying James over to the sofa and sitting down with him. 'What happened?'

'Dad didn't know Isabel was Billy. He didn't even know she was trans! How could he not know?'

Eduardo sighed. 'I don't know, but he didn't. What exactly did he say? It wasn't _too_ terrible, was it?' he added hopefully.

'It was disgusting!' said James. 'He said he was fine about it, but he obviously wasn't. And then he started trying to cover up by saying all these ignorant, bigoted things!'

'Oh,' said Eduardo. 'Well, Jim, being ignorant doesn't _have_ to mean being a bigot – it just means not knowing any better. Your dad comes from a world that existed before you were born. Some people _were_ transgender... although I seem to remember there were different words for it back then... but they would've had a hard time getting dates. There wasn't any such thing as pansexual even when _I_ was a kid, never mind your dad. I mean, it was hard enough for him to come to terms with Kevin being gay.'

James gave him a puzzled look. 'What're you talking about? Kev's always been gay.'

'Well, maybe, but there was a time when nobody knew about it. Not even Kevin.'

'Okay, but... but why the _hell_ would Dad have a problem coming to terms with it?'

'Huh,' said Eduardo. 'Maybe that wasn't the best thing for me to say.'

'Oh my God, my dad's a homophobe!' said James, beginning to cry again.

'No,' Eduardo said firmly. 'Not any...' He stopped himself.

'Not anymore?' said James. 'Is _that_ what you were going to say?'

'I guess it was, yeah. Look, Jim...'

'You're just as bad as the rest of them! My dad's not the guy I thought he was, and you've all been keeping it from me! Even Chita! Even my own brother!'

'Cut that out,' said Eduardo, frowning slightly. 'Jim, let me ask you something. Is this the first time your dad's disappointed you? I mean, _really_ disappointed you?'

'You know it is,' said James.

'That's because he loves you,' said Eduardo, 'and he's become a better person since you were born.'

'No!' said James. 'It's because he's been deceiving me for all these years!'

He got to his feet as he said this, the tears flowing freely, and stood over Eduardo with his mouth poised to pour out more of his grievances. Eduardo frowned, looking ready to meet the oncoming assault, but his steely expression melted into one of horror when he suddenly saw tendrils of white light appearing behind James and snaking their way over the back of his head.

'I hate you!' James roared, the light now shining from his eyes. 'I hate you all!'

Having said this, he suddenly turned and ran for the front door. Eduardo pursued him but when he looked out onto the street, James was already out of sight.

'Aw man,' he said, turning round to see Kylie in the hallway holding various kitchen utensils, and Rose standing halfway up the stairs looking anxious. 'Did I screw that up or what?'

* * *

Carl was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking tea, with Isabel sitting across from him.

'Feeling better?' she asked.

'A little,' said Carl. 'Less tense, anyway. You, um... didn't have to make tea for me, you know.'

'Oh, don't be silly,' said Isabel.

'I can see it now,' Carl went on. 'Your eyes... the freckles... being scared of Jamie's mice... I remember when he showed you his first pair, and you screamed like a g–' He stopped abruptly.

'Making a little more sense to you now, is it?' asked Isabel, with a small smile of amusement.

'I don't know,' said Carl. 'But it doesn't _have_ to make sense to me. It only has to make sense to _you_.'

'Now you're getting it.'

'Why are you being so much more reasonable about this than James was?'

'Oh, all kinds of reasons. Because you're not _my_ dad. Because I've had worse from other people... people who aren't the slightest bit personally involved like you are.'

'Really?' Carl said in surprise. 'I... I'm really sorry to hear that, Billy. Isabel. Aw crap, sorry.'

'It's okay,' said Isabel. 'You'll soon get used to it.'

'I guess everybody thought I already did, huh?'

'Everybody thought wrong, then, didn't they?'

'Thanks for being so understanding, Isabel,' said Carl. 'You're a really nice... person.'

'I know you didn't mean to upset anybody,' said Isabel.

'But I _did _upset someone, though, didn't I? What am I going to do about my boy? He's never going to forgive me!'

The phone started ringing. Carl gave the cordless extension a momentary glance of annoyance, then it stopped ringing as, evidently, Beth answered it elsewhere in the house.

'_I'll_ talk to James,' said Isabel. 'I mean, we both should, but maybe I should go first.'

'Thanks,' said Carl. 'That'd be great.'

At this point they ran out of conversation, so Carl began to look awkward. Isabel then looked awkward too. The atmosphere was broken, however, when Beth came running into the kitchen and said in frantic tones, 'Carl, something terrible has happened!'

* * *

'So,' said Josh, who was eating clams at a nicely-dressed table, 'you don't even eat shellfish?'

'Of course not,' said Conchita, who was sitting opposite him and eating stuffed mushrooms. 'They're animals too.'

'Yeah, but they're shellfish. Oh no, wait – now you think I'm a jerk. Damn it!'

Conchita smiled at him across the table. 'Don't worry – that wasn't a deal-breaker.'

'Oh, good. Because I don't want to screw this up. I really like you, you know.'

'You do, huh? Why is that?'

'Because you're beautiful, and smart, and fun, and... and... what's that look for?'

The look was one of enormous disappointment, which changed to one of resignation as Conchita said, 'That's what everybody says about everybody, Josh. You only have to have the TV on for an hour or two, and you're almost sure to hear some character in some show say it about someone they're supposed to like... or maybe just watch _Aladdin_. The good one, not the remake. Anyway, it doesn't _mean_ anything.'

'Okay, maybe,' said Josh, 'but there's more I can say about you. I like you because you're incredibly kind and selfless, even to shellfish. You're usually cheerful, and if you're not, it's because you're worried about somebody that you love. You like to be in control of where you're going and what you're doing, and you express yourself exactly how you want because you haven't fallen into the trap of thinking that liking pink and being feminine makes you weak or air-headed or something. Quite the opposite, in fact,' he added with a smile. 'So... how was that?'

'I... don't know,' said Conchita, looking rather dazed. 'Is all of that true?'

'Of course it is. It's all stuff I've noticed about you. I could hardly _not_ notice, because you're so open and honest about who you are... more than most people.'

'More than _you_?' asked Conchita. 'I hope you're being open and honest right now, Josh. I don't want to rush into anything without really knowing you.'

'Are we rushing?' Josh asked in a low voice, leaning across the table towards her.

'Well... we could be,' said Conchita, leaning over as well. They had come in fairly close when Josh's cell phone interrupted them. Conchita leaned back at once and said, 'You'd better answer that.'

'Not necessarily,' said Josh, looking peeved as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. When he looked at the caller display, his eyes widened and he actually threw the cell phone into the air, exclaiming, 'Jeez, it's your dad!'

Conchita laughed, caught the phone deftly and answered it with, 'Hi, Dad. _Que pasa?_'

'_Hola, querida,_' said Eduardo. '_Va todo bien?_'

'_Si, esta bien_.'

'Then I'm really sorry to interrupt, but...'

* * *

Meanwhile Carl, Isabel and Kevin had made their way to Eduardo and Kylie's house. Kevin and Isabel were talking to Kylie in the doorway, while Carl was standing on the street looming over Eduardo as he put his cell phone away.

'How could this happen?' Carl demanded. 'Those kids you had working on this said all those things were gone!'

'I guess we missed one,' said Eduardo. 'I'm sorry, Carl.'

Carl looked about to say more, but he turned at the sound of Beth's car screeching into the street. It skidded to a halt; Beth leapt out of the vehicle and ran up to Carl and Eduardo, crying, 'Carl! I've called the whole neighbourhood – nobody's seen him!'

Carl turned back to Eduardo, poised to unleash all manner of verbal abuse on him, when another car pulled up nearby and Josh, Freya and Conchita got out. Carl stared at the two Ghostbusters for a moment, then marched over to them, yelling, 'This is all your fault! You said the house was clean!'

'Carlos!' said Eduardo, stepping between Carl and the two mortified young Ghosbutsters. 'Your house _is_ clean! It happened here.'

'What difference do you think _that_ makes?' barked Carl. 'It still happened on their watch!'

'It happened on _my_ watch,' said Eduardo. 'It's _my_ fault, okay?'

Carl took a step back and eyed him warily for a few moments, then asked more calmly, 'Why was he here, anyway? He doesn't normally go to you with this stuff.'

'Yeah, I know,' said Eduardo. 'He normally goes to Kevin... but I guess he didn't feel like he could with this one.'

'I really let him down, didn't I?' Carl said quietly.

Eduardo sighed and said, 'That's how he feels, yeah.'

'So... it's actually _my_ fault,' said Carl.

'Look,' said Eduardo, 'let's just call it an unfortunate set of circumstances, shall we?'

'Sounds like a good plan,' Conchita cut in. 'It'd at least mean we can get on with finding him, right?'

'You're so right,_ querida_,' said Eduardo, giving her a pat on the shoulder. Then he turned to Josh and Freya. 'PKE meters out, you two – we have to get on with this. And it's _not_ your fault, okay?'

Josh and Freya nodded stoutly and then began looking for James's PKE trail. Eduardo went off with them, while Carl's attention was arrested by Conchita's bare limbs. She saw him looking, gave him an endearing smile and said, 'What's up, Uncle Carl?'

'What the hell is that?' he demanded.

'A dress.'

'It looks like underwear.'

'Carl,' said Eduardo, rushing back to the scene and stepping between them, 'we're gonna have to go after him in Freya's car. Do you want to follow us in Beth's?'

'Well, _obviously_ I do!' said Carl, and he went stomping off. 'Kevin! Isabel! New plan! You and me and Beth are going to get in the car, and those two Ghostbusters and Eduardo are going to get in the car, and Conchita's going to get in the car, and we'll all get in the car.'

'Whoa,' said Freya, looking up from her PKE meter. 'He's lost it.'

'You _are _coming with us, aren't you, Chita?' asked Eduardo, as Kevin and Isabel said a hasty farewell to Kylie and ran to Beth's car. 'You could be useful if James needs getting through to.'

'Of course, Daddy,' said Conchita.

The seating arrangements in Freya's car were naturally occurring: Freya drove, Eduardo sat in the front with his PKE meter, and Conchita and Josh were only too pleased to sit in the back together. Freya followed her nose for a while, then glanced over at Eduardo and said, 'You will tell me if I need to change direction, won't you?'

'What?' said Eduardo, looking up. 'Oh... yeah.'

Freya glanced at him again, and gave him a bracing smile. 'You okay, boss?'

Eduardo hesitated for a moment, then said, 'I feel like I really screwed up. I'm not used to James talking to me about his problems, but Kevin always used to... problems like _this _one, even... and I always seemed to know the right things to say to him. It's just... never been quite the same with James.'

'We all know that, Daddy,' said Conchita. 'You and Kevin are so close in age, and most of the rest of us weren't around back then. Now Jim has other men in his life he's closer to and you have other kids in your life you're closer to, but you love him in a different way, and that's okay.'

'You're right as usual, seashell,' said Eduardo, 'but none of that means I had to totally screw this up. The truth is, I wasn't as understanding this time. I seem to have more sympathy with Carl over Isabel than I used to have with him over Oscar, and that _has_ to be wrong, doesn't it?'

'Oh, that's okay,' said Conchita. 'You sympathise with Uncle Carl because he tried, didn't he? That's why you feel like he's not totally in the wrong. I told him about Isabel, and he _wanted_ to be fine with it, even if he had some trouble processing it. I thought he'd be okay, though. What went wrong exactly?'

'You didn't tell him Isabel used to be Billy, _querida_, did you?' said Eduardo.

'Oh... no, I didn't,' said Conchita, looking troubled. 'All my instincts were telling me to sit on that for a while. I wish I hadn't listened now.'

'Take a left, Freya,' said Eduardo. 'And Chita, don't worry; you've done better than _anyone _with your uncle.'

They ended up underneath the Brooklyn Bridge among traffic cones and the framework of some flatbed trucks. Eduardo, Josh and Freya tracked James's PKE signal until they found themselves looking at a strong white glow emanating from underneath one of the trucks.

'Well,' said Freya, 'who needs a PKE meter, huh?'

'Should we just start blasting?' asked Josh, as Eduardo dropped back to stay near his family.

'I don't know.' Freya crouched down and peered underneath the truck. 'Y'know, it doesn't look like that thing's very firmly attached. It's just, like, clinging onto his hair. Somebody could maybe just brush it off.'

'What's going on?' asked Kevin, coming up behind them. 'Does he need a rousing speech to make him lose the demon? Because that kind of thing worked for Rose.'

'Freya was just saying it looks like someone could brush it off,' said Josh.

'Yeah, I was,' said Freya. 'This one's only a baby; I don't think we should have too much trouble with it.'

'Then get rid of it, quick!' Beth said shrilly behind her.

'Hold on there, Aunty Beth,' Conchita said soothingly. 'Somebody probably should still talk to him. If you're feeling the way he does, you don't want someone going up to you and swatting things off your head. Someone needs to get underneath the truck with him to show they're supportive.'

'Well,' said Isabel, 'you'd be good at that, Chita.'

'So would you,' said Conchita. 'So would Beth. So would Kevin. Normally I'd say so would Carl, but if Jim isn't crazy about him right now...'

'The truth is,' said Josh, 'everybody out here loves that kid... except maybe me and Freya. So the question is, who's the best one to reach out to him right here, right now?'

Conchita was evidently very impressed by this speech, and she gave Josh a winning smile.

'Kevin should do it,' Carl said quietly.

'All right, I will,' said Kevin, 'if I'm really the best choice.'

'Of course you are,' said Carl. 'He'd choose you anyway – you know that – and besides, you know exactly how he's feeling right now. You know what it's like to be let down by your dad... by _me_... because I'm stubborn and narrow-minded and unfair.'

'I'd save that for Jimmy after he's fixed, Dad,' said Kevin, as he descended onto all fours. 'Okay, let's see if I can get under here...'

As Kevin manoeuvred his considerable bulk underneath the truck bed, Beth danced around flapping her fingers and Carl looked on with a seemingly impassive expression. Isabel watched as well for a moment, then grabbed Conchita's arm, pulled her to one side and said, 'Wow, Chita, you look great, really great – what a babe. So how's your date going?'

'Well...' Conchita began, and they put their heads together and started whispering and giggling.

Freya turned to Josh and asked, 'How do _you_ think the date's going?'

'Not so great right _now_,' said Josh. 'Before this it was going all right, I think.' He looked at Isabel and Conchita. 'I wonder what they're saying about me.'

'No point wondering that,' said Freya. 'They seem very happy to be giggling away together, don't they? I guess they're pretty confident that we can fix James between us.'

'Kevin'll do great,' Eduardo cut in. 'Sorry, I wasn't eavesdropping – I just happened to hear that last part.'

'_Kevin _will do great, will he?' Freya said jovially. 'What about us?'

Eduardo gave them an encouraging but half-hearted smile and said, 'You'll do great too.'

'What's with you, Eduardo?' asked Freya. 'You're not still worried you messed with James's head in the first place, are you?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'I just can't help remembering how hard I was on Carl when he was so afraid of Kevin being gay. I didn't want to say this in front of Chita, because she seems to think a lot of me for some reason, but... well, I'm older than you guys, and pansexual is new to me so I could kind of understand Carl being weird about it, and he's older than _me_, so... so maybe that means he had some excuse with Kevin.'

'Well, hold on a minute,' said Josh. 'You said he was "afraid" of Kevin being gay, but only "weird" about James. And it's true what Chita said, right? He's really trying this time around?'

'Yeah, that's true,' said Eduardo.

'Well,' said Josh, 'what if he'd only been "weird" about Kevin, rather than "afraid"? Would you have been more understanding of him then?'

'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'I was so much younger then. This mostly all happened before you guys were even born. Maybe I was just one of those kids who can't imagine a world without them in it.'

'I don't think so, Eduardo,' said Freya. 'If your brother had really tried all along with Kevin, like he is with James, you'd have been much more okay with it. See, I _can_ imagine a world without me in it!'

'Yeah,' said Eduardo, with a wry smile, 'one that didn't actually exist. Kevin and I both had our problems with Carl back then. I just hope James isn't heading the same way.'

Meanwhile, James and Kevin had been having quite a conversation of their own under the truck. Kevin began it with, 'Hey there, Jimmy.'

'Oh, it's you,' James replied flatly, engulfed in the light of the entity on his head.

'Yeah, it's me,' said Kevin. 'I wish you'd come out. We're all really worried about you, dude.'

'I'm okay under here, thanks,' said James.

'I can't agree with you there,' said Kevin.

There was a long pause. Then James said, 'Dad's out there, isn't he? And Uncle Eduardo. I'm disappointed in _him_ too, y'know. You always told me how great he was to talk to about stuff.'

'He is,' said Kevin. 'I'll bet he didn't say anything _that_ bad.'

'I wish I'd gone to you, Kev, like I normally do,' said James. 'But I thought you wouldn't want to hear about Dad's disgusting attitude. And then Uncle Eduardo said... he said...'

'_What _did he say?' Kevin asked gently.

'He said Dad was a homophobe!'

'Is that _exactly_ what he said?'

'No-o,' James admitted, 'but he said Dad found it hard to come to terms with you being gay.'

'Well, that's true. But it was a long time ago, Jimmy.'

'Was he really bad to you, Kev?'

'Bad?' said Kevin. 'No, I wouldn't say that. He did used to say some stuff, and I sometimes used to feel it... I sometimes _still_ feel it... and it _has_ affected our relationship. But I've always known for certain he was trying his best to be a good dad to me.'

'It doesn't matter what his intention was,' said James. 'It only matters how you felt.'

'Dad feels bad about it now too. He's learned from his mistakes, Jimmy, and you have to remember that he grew up in a very different environment to us. To _either _of us.'

'It wasn't the Dark Ages, though, was it?'

'No,' said Kevin, 'but the late Eighteenth Century wasn't the Dark Ages either, and that's when they were introducing sodomy laws in this country. Back then, sodomy was punishable by castration.'

'_What_?' cried James. 'Oh my God – that's horrible! How could anyone _do_ that?'

It was at this point that Kevin, looking at the demon clinging to James's head, said, 'Look, let's get rid of this thing first, shall we?' So saying, he tentatively raised his hand and gave the demon a short, sharp flick. It detached itself at once and flew out from underneath the truck.

Quick as a flash, Freya opened the trap she had in her hands and directed the entrapment beam at the entity. It was sucked inside, and she was forced to take a step back into one of the truck beds.

Kevin let out an enormous sigh of relief, then went on, 'You know what else wasn't the Dark Ages, Jimmy? The mid-twenty-tens – that's _your_ lifetime! Back then there were some states that _still_ hadn't officially repealed their sodomy laws, even if they didn't enforce them. And right now... I don't even _know_ what crap exists in some states now!'

'Why just sodomy laws?' asked James. 'What about lesbians?'

'Women weren't even considered when those laws were made,' said Kevin. 'The world was run _by_ men, _for_ men.'

'But that's terrible!'

'Of course it is. That's why things change – because people start to _notice_ that they're terrible.'

'So what're you saying – that makes it okay for Dad to be transphobic?'

'I'm saying that change for the better doesn't happen overnight. Jimmy, would it surprise you to learn that I, too, was a little bit shocked when I heard Billy was going to transition into a girl?'

James looked horrified. 'Yes, actually, that surprises me a lot!'

'I'm sorry,' said Kevin. 'It's just that when I was the age you guys were then, kids didn't do that. Maybe they wanted to, but it wasn't done, and that must've been hard on them, which is why the world is better now for Isabel and for you and for everyone, really. And twenty years ago, it was better for me and Oscar than it would've been when Dad was a kid. Do you see what I'm saying?'

'Well... yeah, I guess so.'

'And Dad hasn't really been as bad as _that_, has he? He hasn't tried to change you, or stop you from seeing Isabel? He's really done his best to understand, hasn't he? This is the first time you feel he's really let you down. That's right, isn't it? And it's because he's been a really great dad to you, with no major mistakes, for almost eighteen years. So can't you get past just this _one_? Which he feels really bad about, by the way.'

'That's pretty much what Uncle Eduardo said,' said James.

'Uncle Eduardo talks a lot of sense,' said Kevin. 'What he said to _you_ made a lot of sense, right?'

'Yeah, I guess so. But you said it better, Kev. Y'know, you're gonna make a really great dad.'

'Thanks, bro, that means a lot. Now, shall we get out from under this truck?'

James smiled and said, 'Yeah, okay.'

As soon as James had crawled out from his hiding place, Beth rushed over to him and embraced him and kissed his face all over, while Carl hung about looking uncertain. When his mother had released him, James sought out Conchita and gave her a hug. They exchanged a few words, then he hugged Isabel.

Kevin saw that there was some hullabaloo going on between Eduardo, Josh and Freya, so he went up to them and asked, 'Is something wrong?'

'Nothing you have to worry about, Kev,' said Eduardo, who was stuffing his cell phone into his pocket. 'I just got a call from John – he said Sarah's turned herself into a giant slug or something.'

'She has?' said Kevin. 'Wow, I hope somebody can fix that. Oh my God – it wasn't that serum Rosy wanted, was it?'

'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'I'll have to go to the firehouse and check it out.' He turned to Josh and Freya. 'You guys go home, or do whatever it is you wanted to do tonight. Josh, you probably want to finish your date with Chita, don't you?'

'I don't know if we should,' said Josh. 'I wouldn't want to take her away from Isabel – she doesn't have anybody else now that your nephew's gone with his family.'

Eduardo looked and saw that Kevin, Beth, Carl and James were all climbing into their car together, leaving Conchita hanging back with Isabel.

'Let's offer Isabel a ride home, Josh,' said Freya. 'Then you and Chita can take my car again if you want to.'

'Thanks, Freya,' Josh smiled gratefully, and they approached Conchita and Isabel together.

This left Eduardo standing by himself. He took out his cell phone again and called Kylie.

'I'm going to be a little late,' he told her. 'Or maybe a _lot _late – I don't know. We've dealt with Jim, but now something's happening at the firehouse that I should look into.'

'You've dealt with him, huh?' said Kylie. 'Does that mean everything's fixed between him and Carl?'

Beth's car was now pulling away. Eduardo looked at it and noticed that James and Carl were sitting in the back together, already immersed in conversation.

'Probably things won't be _exactly_ the same between them now,' said Eduardo. 'But that's what happens when you grow up, right?'

'Inevitably,' said Kylie. 'Don't worry, sweetie. They'll be okay.'


End file.
